Prime Minister Patrick Manning says T&T will give US$1million to Haiti to assist its disaster relief, following Tuesday's 7.3 earthquake which caused extensive damage and a significant loss of life. Manning revealed this in an interview following yesterday's ceremonial opening of the Parliament at the Red House. Manning said the Government was "quite taken aback by the fact the Haiti experienced a 7.3 quake for one minute and we expected the destruction to be very massive." He said the T&T Government was awaiting a report from the Caricom mission in Port-au-Prince.
Manning said the T&T Government would like to hear from Haitians on the exact nature of assistance required from T&T. "At any rate, we have taken a decision to commit US$1million to the Haitian effort immediately," he said. Manning said further assistance from T&T was not unlikely. "Things are very tight with us financially in T&T now but they are immeasurably worse with the Haitians," he added. Manning said the latest tragedy "reminds me of the (need for the ) proposal that we have put to the Fifth Summit of the Americas where we had called for a special fund (to be set up) for Haiti, to be contributed to by all states in the western hemisphere."
Manning said the proposal was now being worked on at the Organisation of American States (OAS). Manning said Haiti was a regional problem before Monday's disaster. "This disaster has aggravated it," he added. In extending his Government's sympathies to the Haitian Government and people, Manning said he had been trying unsuccessfully to contact President Rene Preval. Asked if T&T was prepared to send troops to the Caricom nation, Manning said: "It depends on what the problem is. Let us (wait and) see. Haiti is a Caricom country and we take that into account on how we treat with the issue." And the Minority Leader in the Tobago House of Assembly, Ashworth Jack, says his party, the Tobago Organisation for People (TOP), has launched a "Tobago for Haiti" initiative, where citizens would be asked to donate clothes, foodstuff and water at the TOP offices, Picton Street, Scarborough.