The mission of three days of CARICOM (Caribbean Community) convened by former Jamaican Prime Minister Percival J. Patterson, CARICOM Representative for Haiti and Jamaica ended Friday in Port-au-Prince on key agreements aimed to strengthening institutional and technical capacity of Haiti.

This high-level mission has met the Prime Minister, Jean Max Bellerive, the Special Representative of the Office of CARICOM for Haiti, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Organization of American States (OAS). Was also present the representatives of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) for the private sector, and the Federation of Haitian diaspora.

The projects discussed covered three areas: Housing, Development and Regulations - Physical Environment, Planning and Coordination - Infrastructure Development.

Sources close, have indicated that the work teams have reached consensus on the projects of CARICOM,including on the rehousing of refugees, debris removal, health and sanitation, education and agriculture.

During the mission of three days many external consultations were made particularly with specialists in health, housing, construction management and of the public administration and media.

A timetable for the preparation of files of implementation of project has been established for the next 90 days. The purpose of these detailed presentation files, is to permit to obtain funds for special projects and / or projects, which have so far been only partially funded. These files will be submitted to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) and other potential sources of funding.

The objective of this mission responds to the urgent need to bridge the gap between current funding from international donors, which promote more "easily " the long-term projects and needs identified by the Haitian government for short-term initiatives as well that the strengthening of institutional capacity.

"Donors are seeking and choose preferably projects which have a long-term potential, but our immediate needs are different. Therefore, we must find creative ways to encourage donors to fund and implement these projects quickly", said Prime Minister of Haiti, Jean Max Bellerive.

See also:

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-1998-haiti-caricom-strengthen-the-haitian-government-s-institutional-capacity.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-1863-haiti-reconstruction-jp-patterson-criticized-the-slow-pace-of-reconstruction.html

PI/ HaitiLibre