PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Whether locked up in warehouses or stolen by thugs from people's hands, food from the world's aid agencies still isn't getting to enough hungry Haitians, leaving the strongest and fittest with the most. The newly homeless of the rubble-strewn Bizoton slum say they haven't gotten food, water or help with shelter in the two weeks since the earthquake. "If it rains now, that's it," Wilson St. Ellis, 50, a father of eight, said Wednesday amid plastic sheets stretched here and there as flimsy shields against the elements. Where donated rice, beans or ready-to-eat meals are being distributed, crowds quickly become unruly, with young men pushing ahead and grabbing food bags from women and the weak. U.N. peacekeepers fire pepper spray and Haitian police swing sticks to restore control. "These people are just hungry," UNspokesman Vincenzo Pugliese said of the thousands thronging food distribution points, where he said U.N. peacekeepers were reinforcing security. Food remains scarce for many of the neediest survivors despite the efforts of the United Nations, the US military and dozens of international aid groups. Relief experts say the scale of this disaster and Haiti's poor infrastructure are presenting unprecedented challenges, but Haitian leaders complain coordination has been poor. "Many mistakes have to be rectified in order to bring help to the people who need it," President Rene Preval complained to reporters.
