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Chileans unhappy with govt s quake response

Posted on: Mon March 08, 2010

CONCEPCION, Chile: Most Chileans are unhappy with their government s response to the catastrophic earthquake and squarely blame President Michelle Bachelet for shortcomings, according to a poll published on Sunday. But some veteran aid experts are impressed by how quickly Chile has mounted a huge disaster-recovery effort.    

The poll published by the daily newspaper El Mercurio found 72 per cent of Chileans believe the government responded late and inefficiently to re-establish order after the earthquake, and 48percent believe it was because Bachelet did not want to end her term by sending soldiers into the streets. Sixty percent also believe aid delivery has been too slow and inefficient.    

The survey of 600 adults, conducted in Santiago on Thursday, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Bachelet waited 36 hours before declaring the state of catastrophe  that put the military in charge of the disaster area, and significant aid didn t reach some hard-hit communities for two or three days after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunami.    

But the government since then has rolled out a massive effort, deploying planes, ships, helicopters, trucks, heavy equipment and thousands of troops to deliver tons of aid flowing in from government storehouses, Chilean businesses and foreign governments and aid groups.    

 Could FEMA have done that?  said Chris Weeks, director of humanitarian affairs for the DHL delivery company, referring to the US government s disaster agency.

Courtesy : The News