Holness says Jamaica still committed to sending troops to Haiti

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has confirmed that Jamaica remains committed to sending troops to Haiti as part of attempts to bring stability to the French capital Port-au-Prince, which is overrun with gang violence.

The Gleaner reported today that the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has started making preparations for the mission.

“As it is now, Jamaica's commitment still stands. We certainly can't go up to the 1,000 troops suggested in media [from] the Kenyans. But we will give what we can,” Holness said at a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister.

“We have our own challenges here. Whatever we do cannot impact in a negative way our own security challenges,” he added.

The prime minister said that as Jamaica is a sovereign country, the Government looks at all threats to the island's stability and acts pre-emptively and strategically to ensure that there is the capability to deal with those threats.

“Certainly, we can't deal with the threat of a massive migration problem should one occur but we use our international partnerships to ensure that we are able to address it. Regardless of how we feel about the situation in Haiti and how it could impact Jamaica, in the core and in the heart of every Jamaican is sympathy and solidarity,” he said.

- Kimone Francis

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