Concern over Haiti - Par : Kristy Ramnarine, Trinidad Express

Leaders : A regional shame

Kristy Ramnarine, kramnarine@trinidad express.com

Monday, April 20th 2009

The present situation in Haiti is not one which Hemispheric leaders should be proud of, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said yesterday during the Fifth Summit of the Americas closing press conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s.

"It is not our concern how this situation came about or how it did not come about," Manning said.

"The fact of the matter is that it exists and none of us could feel comfortable, however rich or however poor we might be, that a Haiti is in existence in our own backyard and therefore we resolved to do something about it."

Spiking global food and fuel prices triggered days of deadly riots in Haiti last April. Four storms also battered the country in less than a month last summer, killing nearly 800 people and causing $1 billion in damage.

The country now faces a $125 million budget shortfall, rising double-digit inflation and a slowdown in remittances.

Manning revealed yesterday that the development of a fund to assist the impoverished country has been proposed by world leaders.

"There was a proposal that was advanced that sought to address the development of Haiti in some way, but we agreed that time did not allow us to complete those deliberations. Those deliberations would be taken up at the Organisation of American States (OAS) meeting in Honduras on June 1," he added.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves later supported Manning’s statement.

"You should be embarrassed to have a Haiti in the region. Not just the leaders," Gonsalves told the Express.

"But it seems as though we are getting somewhere. I mean David Rudder had established that proposition a long time ago,’"Haiti I’m Sorry’. But we have to go beyond sorrow to address these things concretely and I think we are getting somewhere. Again, it is the start of a process."

Also addressing the issue, OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza said last week’s donor conference held in Washington DC gives a reason for more optimism on Haiti. He gave two reasons during a press conference at the National Secretariat yesterday : "One, there is a plan. The Haitian government has a very clear project for development. Now you know exactly what you have to support.

"And second, I think the donors were also very much willing to put up resources at this moment in time. That was very important. Here in this conference we spoke with President (Rene) Preval and there were some things that were said at the conference, at the donors’ meeting, that were very interesting of trying to focus all international aid on the issue of infrastructure, roads for Haiti."

Insulza added, "We are in a good moment, what we need to do is actually co-ordinate the review of policies. I think things are really going to begin to happen for Haiti."