EDITORIAL - New Government must engage Haiti

It would be understandable if recent events in this country distracted Jamaican public officials, including the former prime minister, Mr P.J. Patterson, from concentrating too closely on developments in Haiti.

But now that the general election is past and an administration has assumed office, it is time for Jamaica to renew attention to one of its closest neighbours, putting special focus on pulling Haiti in the mainstream of the Caribbean family. For in the absence of the strong regional initiative to help shore up Haiti, we fear there is a risk of that country's people growing cynical about its fledgling democracy, increasing the likelihood of political instability and the impunity that has marked too much of Haitian history.

Jamaica is better positioned than its partners in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to offer leadership in this regard. Additionally, the efforts of the previous administration notwithstanding, an expanded Haitian initiative from Kingston would have been made easier with last month's return of the People's National Party (PNP) to office.

This newspaper's concern over Haiti is from our sense that two years after the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country, the Haitian people may be growing disenchanted, even restive, over the recovery effort.

Of course, it would be unreasonable to expect anything close to full recovery in two years from an event that killed more than 220,000 people, destroyed or damaged the majority of the buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, left nearly 1.6 million homeless and crippled an already merely limping economy.

But from the perspective of many, the recovery is taking place far too slowly, and much of the presumed expenditure on the reconstruction is either being squandered or not reaching the intended target.

Pledges

Another element of the problem, too, is that the international community's disbursement of assistance has not kept pace with pledges. For instance, of the US$4.5 billion pledged to Haiti over 2010 and 2011, 47 per cent is still to be disbursed. Moreover, much of the aid promised, either by governments or private agencies, never reaches the country. Large portions flow right back to the donors for reimbursements and contracts of various kinds, or to maintain non-governmental organisations that compete in the blooming aid sector.

There is also the fact of Haiti's historically weak institutional capacity that was further undermined by the effects of the earthquake. Here is where we believe Jamaica and CARICOM, of which Haiti is a member, can play a greater role.

Mr Patterson, a former Jamaican prime minister, is CARICOM's special envoy on Haiti. As head of a PNP government, he pressed for Haiti's accession to the Community. His party is philosophically and historically regionalist, and its current leader and prime minister has responsibility for external affairs within CARICOM.

This is a timely convergence that we believe that Jamaica should leverage in an effort to have CARICOM, insofar as it can, press the international community to keep its promises to Haiti.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Foreign Minister A.J. Nicholson must place Haiti on the agenda.

We believe, too, that CARICOM itself must do more on the ground to help Haiti rebuild its institutions to function as a modern state.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.