Holness leads CARICOM mission to Haiti

Kingston – Prime Minister Andrew Holness left Jamaica on Monday morning to lead a special Caribbean Community (CARICOM) mission to Haiti.

Representatives from the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and the CARICOM Secretariat are part of the delegation.

A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister says as part of this mission, members of the CARICOM delegation are expected to have discussions with several critical Haitian stakeholder groups.

Prime Minister Holness is expected to return to the island later in the evening.

Monday’s mission comes ahead of a planned stakeholder meeting in Jamaica in the coming weeks to discuss the situation in Haiti which is confronted with political turmoil and corruption, and unrelenting gang violence, with armed groups committing murder, rape, as well as kidnappings.

At the end of the 44th regular summit of CARICOM Heads of Government in The Bahamas less than two weeks ago, CARICOM chairman and host Prime Minister Philip Davis said the regional grouping had taken its moral obligation seriously as it relates to resolving the issues in Haiti.

He dismissed the idea of boots on the ground and this stage, saying that the first step would be to see how CARICOM can strengthen the Haitian national police to enable them to restore order and curb the criminal activities on the island. (CMC)