ALBA Prepares Recovery Plan for Haiti
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez submitted a proposal to the Political Council of the ALBA and the People’s Trade Agreement (PTA) to create a US $100 million Humanitarian Fund for Haiti aimed at boosting relief efforts to help the country recover from the devastation following the 7.2 earthquake on January 12.
«We are prioritizing our efforts on providing care to the victims; but this requires financing and creating a humanitarian relief fund for Haiti,» President Chavez said during the meeting. Also attending the meeting were other high ranking ALBA officials including Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit —who is also president of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)— Foreign ministers from Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; a special envoy from Nicaragua and representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, and Venezuela.
Chavez reiterated that Venezuela has cancelled Haiti’s debt and will continue to send fuel.
During the meeting, the ALBA-PTA Foreign ministers drew up a comprehensive emergency relief plan aimed at reconstructing the main infrastructure and rebuilding sectors such as health, education and public services in Haiti.
During his weekly TV and radio program Alo Presidente, Chavez announced that Cuban doctors had already performed thousands of surgeries and provided free vaccination to Haitians against a number of diseases. «Outlining a strategic mid and long-term plan of action is critical to set up new hospitals and water purification plants, and to provide stimulus to the agriculture and food production sectors and education.
Venezuela has played a leading role in the recovery operation in Haiti, swiftly sending humanitarian emergency aid teams to help carry out rescue operations and reconstruction projects.
Also during the emergency meeting, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla read a communiqué by the Political Council of the ALBA-PTA outlining the group’s concern about the chaotic situation in Haiti.
The document states that to restore normality in the country requires a concerted action by the Haitian government and people, based on sovereignty and territorial integrity; and a stronger, equitable and far-reaching commitment by the international community to providing aid for Haiti’s recovery. In addition, the text underlines the UN’s central role in coordinating international relief efforts.
The ALBA-PTA representatives were especially concerned about the excessive number of US military troops in Haiti which threaten further international cooperation in Haiti.
During the meeting in Caracas, the ALBA-TCP also agreed sending a high-level delegation to convey to Haitian President Rene Preval the steadfast willingness to continue cooperating with Haiti, and present an integral cooperation project.
Plans to enhance electricity generation have also been set in motion by the ALBA countries, with the support of Petrocaribe, including the refuelling of plants in Cabo Haitiano, Gonaives and Carrefous. The outline also prioritizes rebuilding agriculture and educational infrastructure, which almost entirely collapsed during the earthquake.
It was also agreed that the CITGO oil company —based in the US and a subsidiary of the Venezulean owned PDVSA— will ship oil, materials and specialized equipment to boost reconstruction projects in Haiti, given its logistical capacity for sending goods to Haiti.
Aid Efforts by Cuba, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic Acknowledged
Haitian Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive said that Haiti will have to work hard to return to normality, and added that achieving this daunting task would take at least five to ten years.
Addressing the opening session of the Montreal Ministerial Preparatory Conference on Haiti, Bellerive spoke highly of the solidarity and cooperation efforts by several countries, international agencies and regional groups.
He especially expressed his appreciation for the valuable contributions of Cuba, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, reported Prensa Latina.
Meanwhile, the Haitian Health Minister Alex Larsen said on Monday the catastrophe has left some 150,000 dead and 200,000 injured.
In addition to the humanitarian emergency aid, the country will need at least US $10 billion to repair the damage left behind.
The Haitian prime minister voiced the need to think beyond immediate recovery actions, and direct additional efforts towards achieving future development by restructuring key economic sectors like tourism and agriculture./
While some 800,000 people are still living in makeshift overcrowded camps near Port au Prince, an estimated 235,000 Haitians have fled to rural areas hoping to find jobs and shelter.
