Floodlight Cricket Association comes good
-Gives $.5M towards cause
THE NATIONAL Committee for Haiti Relief on Friday evening received a cheque valued $500,000 from the Guyana Floodlight Cricket Association at a presentation held at the Georgetown Cricket Club in Bourda.

Chairperson of the National Committee for Haiti Relief, Ms Priya Manickchand, receives the cheque from Ray Seebarran of the Guyana Floodlight Cricket Association toward assisting Haiti. With her at left is Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Mr Robeson Benn

Chairperson of the National Committee for Haiti Relief, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Ms Priya Manickchand, who received the cheque, expressed the Committee’s gratitude for the gesture, saying the Association is the first of its kind to have contributed towards the cause. So saying, she also urged other sports personalities and associations to follow suit.

To date, as of January 22, the Committee has accumulated $243M , and supplies are ready to be shipped to Haiti. This will be done as soon as the port congestion is reduced, Minister Manickchand said, adding that apart from cash, citizens have also been steadily contributing food and clothing, and that the Committee is determined to continue its work to aid Haiti as long as the island needs it.

Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Mr Robeson Benn, who is also a member of the committee, noted Haiti’s importance to the Caribbean, because of its previous engagement in the fight for freedom in the Western Hemisphere, and said during its time of devastation, it needs the help of all.

In response to the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that tore through the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince on January 12, killing tens of thousands and leaving many homeless in it wake, the Government of Guyana has committed US$1M towards assisting the island territory in its hour of need, and established a multi-stakeholder committee for the very purpose.

Since then, the Committee has been collecting donations from civil society, religious organizations and groupings, commercial banks, business enterprises and other agencies towards the people of Haiti. (GINA)