THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has established a Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee to assess the situation in Haiti.

PRIME Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, said the commission will allow CARICOM to understand what is happing in Haiti.

The committee comprises the Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Allen Chastanet; Prime Minister of Bahamas, Hubert Minnis; Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness; and Secretary-General of CARICOM, Irwin LaRocque.

As part of their assessment, the team will be going to Haiti where opposition forces are seeking to remove President Jovenel Moise from office over allegations of embezzlement.
The Nation News reported that the opposition parties in Haiti have accused Moise of embezzlement, but the head of state has defended himself against the report of the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation (CSA/CA) into programmes and projects funded by the PetroCaribe, an oil alliance of many Caribbean states with Venezuela to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment.

The report had found that significant shortcomings have been associated with the planning and implementation of development programmes and projects funded by the PetroCaribe Fund.

Last month, the state announced it had filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Port-au-Prince against those persons implicated in the PetroCaribe scandal.
The CSC/CA audit found that significant shortcomings have been associated with the planning and implementation of development programmes and projects funded by the PetroCaribe Fund during the administration of former President Michel Martelly.

According to Nation News, the Court made it clear that, overall, relevant documents were missing in most of the projects and contracts reviewed and as a result it was impossible to conduct a comprehensive audit of several projects.

As the tension continues to rise over the ongoing issue, Mottley said the sub-committee will allow CARICOM to be at the forefront of determining a “factual matrix.”

“We have no difficulty as a community… we speak the truth to power but we will do so on the basis of an independent analysis of our own and based on our understanding and appreciation of the principles which have been enshrined in the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas,” said Prime Minister Mottley, adding that they have been in contact with Haiti and will continue to plan the upcoming mission.