Blue helmets in Haiti repair key bridge link with the Dominican Republic

United Nations peacekeepers serving in Haiti have repaired a key bridge linking the impoverished Caribbean nation with its neighbour, the Dominican Republic, as the country tries to rebuild after January’s catastrophic earthquake.

A Japanese engineering company with the UN mission, known as MINUSTAH, completed the repairs of Ouanaminthe Bridge last Friday after four weeks of work, according to a press release issued by the mission today.

The 100-metre-long bridge – which served as a critical link between the northern regions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic – had been in poor condition for some time, with the supporting pillars having lost their stability.

MINUSTAH said the bridge repair is one of numerous projects the mission is carrying out as part of broader efforts to help Haiti reconstruct following the 12 January quake, which killed more than 200,000 people and left 1.3 million others homeless. Large swathes of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and other major towns were destroyed or badly damaged.

The other projects include the rebuilding or renovating of hospitals and schools, the drilling of wells and the rehabilitation of ports and roads.