Haiti president to ask for immediate help

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 6 (UPI) -- Haitian President Rene Preval is set to arrive in Washington Monday and says he will press for help for immediate needs as well a long-range aid.

Preval is to meet with Congress and U.S. President Barack Obama as the administration gets ready to ask lawmakers for more than $1 billion in aid for Haiti, devastated by an earthquake Jan. 12, The Miami Herald reported.

Preval told the newspaper the country needs at least $93 million immediately to fix drainage canals to prevent flooding and the country must buy seeds and fertilizers so that those who fled the quake-damaged capital of Port-au-Prince to stay in the provinces and farm.

The Herald said Preval is also looking for money to get students back in school.