By Mickella Anderson-Gordon
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, has reaffirmed Jamaica’s commitment to the Haitian cause and called on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and regional and international partners to act urgently to restore order to the French-speaking island. Holness made the statement at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Monday, March 11, on the occasion of a high-level meeting on Haiti convened by the heads of government of CARICOM.
The prime minister pointed out that the political, security and humanitarian crisis in Haiti has been worsening on the ground, especially over the last few weeks.
“It is clear that Haiti is now at a tipping point. CARICOM and our regional partners are deeply concerned, as are our international partners,” the prime minister said. “We who have agreed to facilitate consensus will do an injustice to the people of Haiti if we ourselves are unable to move forward with urgency and resolve,” he added, while noting that the special meeting “must lead us closer to action.”
Prime Minister Holness said that CARICOM heads have been intensely engaged in discussions and outreach to prevent the situation in Haiti from becoming a civil war.
“We have all agreed that this cannot be allowed to happen, not in our hemisphere, with our long-standing reputation as a zone of peace,” Holness outlined, further, that Haiti requires a long-term reconstruction and support plan from regional and international partners.
Furthermore, with the Haitian national police being under-resourced and outmanned, the prime minister said that the United Nations (UN) Security Council-approved multinational support mission to Haiti is a critical and necessary first step to restore basic law and order. The prime minister also noted that Haitian voices must be central to any deliberation towards a resolution of the situation.
“It is my hope that at the end of this meeting, we will have developed a clear and defined pathway forward and would have infused our planning for deployment of the agreed multinational security support mission with the urgency and the vision it requires,” Holness said.
