—more help promised

GUYANA has so far donated US$50,000 (over G$10 million) to its sister country, Haiti, which was severely hit by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on August 14.

Speaking on the side-lines of an event on Wednesday, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, said that the Government of Guyana has every intention to lend further assistance to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member State.

Dr. Ali said that Haiti has requested that money be sent directly to the country, instead of supplies.
“When we got that note that [Haiti] preferred cash, I had already instructed [Ministry of] Foreign Affairs to release immediately, US$50,000.

“Then we [also] opened an account with the private sector to raise money. So, I think within another week and a half we will see what comes into the account, but the government will definitely be making another [contribution] with whatever is in that account to Haiti,” President Ali related.

Almost immediately after Haiti was devastated by the earthquake, Dr. Ali pledged his support to provide whatever assistance possible to the citizens of the island-nation.

At that time, the Office of the President, in a statement, said that President Ali was in telephone conversations with the Prime Minister of Haiti, Dr. Ariel Henry, and the Chairman of CARICOM, Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, to ascertain how Guyana can lend its assistance to Haiti’s relief and recovery efforts.

“Guyana’s support will be part of a regional relief and recovery initiative that will be coordinated by the Chairman of CARICOM,” the release had noted.

The earthquake killed more than 300 people and injured almost 2000 others. In 2010, when Haiti was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, Guyana, under the leadership of then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, had donated some $260 million.

At that time, Guyana was hailed as the “most generous” contributor to earthquake-relief efforts for Haiti, followed by Ghana, according to a February 2010 article published in Stabroek News.

The rankings of generosity were measured against the countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and recorded by the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which had been tracking all financial pledges and assistance given to Haiti.

Guyana, according to a Stabroek News article, was also mentioned in the list among the most giving people in terms of how much money was donated per person, ranking sixth behind Canada; Sweden; Norway; Denmark and Finland.