CARICOM ON THE FRONTLINES IN HAITI

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community is on the frontlines in Haiti, providing medical, military, and search and rescue interventions along with the international community.

Mr. Jeremy Collymore, Executive Director, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) informed the regional media via video conference on Friday 22 January, from the CARICOM Single Market and Economy office in Bridgetown, Barbados that operational and logistical arrangements on the ground in Haiti were are being advanced by Jamaica - the Sub Regional Focal Point for CDEMA.

He said that within the past days 12 days since the earthquake struck, health personnel from CARICOM had rendered hundreds of medical interventions, including several operations.

A Jamaica co-ordinated search and rescued team had yielded three survivors and the team has been engaged in the distribution of water and other materials including medical and emergency supplies, Mr. Collymore reported.

With regard to the financial contributions by CARICOM countries to the Haitian relief and reconstruction so far, the following pledges have been made:

    • Antigua and Barbuda EC$100,000

    • British Virgin Islands USD$80,000

    • Grenada USD$100,000

    • Guyana US$1,000000

    • Saint Lucia EC$500,000

    • Trinidad and Tobago US$1,000000

    • St. Vincent and the Grenadines USD$ 100,000

Other CARICOM countries have offered assistance in the form of clothing, food and military manpower, while the Caribbean Development Bank had also pledged UDS$200,000.