Haiti’s Finance Minister resigns

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti  – Haiti’s Finance and Economy Minister Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie resigned today with immediate effect.
Jean-Marie, who has been in the post for a year, sent her letter of resignation to Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe.
Her resignation comes amidst constant reports that she no longer feels she has the support of her colleagues in her effort to manage the local economy.
Dubbed the “Iron Lady,” she worked in Cuba for eight years before giving up her residency there to return to Haiti in 2010. She is considered by many in Haiti and in the international community as one of the more credible and competent members of President Michel Martelly’s administration.
Political observers say her efforts to bring transparency to Haiti’s finances, initiate a large-scale reform of the management of the country’s finances and put the impoverished French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on a path to macro-economic stability have not been easy.
They said the most recent issue creating a stir among donors to the earthquake battered country is a decision by the government to issue US$432 million in no-bid contracts after Hurricane Sandy last year. (CMC)