“We really need in Guyana to help as much as we can, and I urge all Guyanese to be generous in this help,” President Jagdeo said yesterday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.
He noted that government had already pledged US$1M while
he had put together a national committee that will lead the relief efforts, and he emphasized that it is “national” because there is no partisanship.
“All the political parties in Parliament are represented on that committee, the religious faiths and NGOs. We will work together as Guyana to bring as much relief to the people of Haiti as possible,” Jagdeo said.
“I urge everyone, nationally and also internationally, to move swiftly to assist Haiti,” the President appealed.
“Over the past two days,” Jagdeo said, “we have seen the haunting images; heartbreaking images coming out of Haiti; images of men, women and children in desperate search for food, water and medical care and yet not finding it.”
He observed also that Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, where about two million people reside, has been completely flattened.
Jagdeo said further that he was looking at Haitian President Rene Preval speaking on Wednesday and “there was this desperate look on his face, a look of frustration, of not being able to respond to people’s needs. He said the most frustrating thing was seeing thousands of people lying in the streets of Haiti needing medical care yet not having anywhere to take them to.”
Haiti already had a diminished capacity to handle disasters because it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and that capacity has been further eroded; in fact, totally destroyed, Jagdeo pointed out.
“It’s almost like starting from scratch, where there is no functioning government now in Haiti because of the destruction there,” Jagdeo added.
He stated further that “We have to assist the government to rebuild that capacity and also to respond to the needs of the people; the desperate needs now…”
Thos who are desirous of contributing can do so to the National Committee for Guyana’s Assistance to Haiti by calling telephone number 2264080.
