-commercial banks donate
The Guyana National Com-mittee for Haiti Relief has netted over $230M in cash and there have also been several donations in kind which head of the committee, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand said can be used to provide sustained assistance.
Following the 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti last week, destroying the capital Port-au-Prince and killing tens of thousands, Guyana coordinated a national effort to assist the country.
Yesterday all the commercial banks presented cheques to the national effort and these were accepted by Manickchand at the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) office at Thomas Lands.
Manickchand yesterday announced that it is hoped that the first shipment of assistance from Guyana would be made to Haiti later this week.
During the presentation, which also saw the Guyana Police Force donating $2M following contributions by officers and ranks of the force, the minister noted that all of the monies donated to the committee will be going to Haiti and none would be used for the administrative purposes of the committee.
Meanwhile, Manickchand yesterday acknowledged that the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) has indicated that the Caribbean’s response to the disaster should be in the area of health but Guyana is not of the view that any member state should be restricted to any one area. She said Guyana has since dispatched a letter to that agency expressing this view.
Asked if Guyana’s contribution would be channelled through CDEMA or CARICOM, the minister said that the country would not depend on either of the two when contributions can be made through other mediums. She said the country is attempting to establish where and to whom donations can be made to the suffering people of Haiti. She said that Guyana is working with the community’s disaster agency which has established a staging area for the region’s response in Jamaica but it is believed that one can also be established in the Dominican Republic.
The minister said that there is no consensus on the position that the region’s efforts should be focused in the area of health as all heads of government have not agreed.
However, she stressed that Guyana is not opposed to supporting the health initiative “but we are not confined to it.”
She pointed out that Haiti would need long-term assistance in areas such as rebuilding and local companies have made pledges of assistance in that regard.
For example BK International has pledged a ship to transport items, Fibre Tech is offering 200 kitchen sinks, the Beharry Group of Companies one container of food items and the Pomeroon Oil Mill has pledged a quantity of cooking oil. DDL has pledged water while the New GPC has pledged $6M worth of pharmaceutical items.
The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) and Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd donated $5M each while Citizens Bank, Scotia Bank and Demerara Bank contributed $1M each and the Bank of Baroda donated $500,000.
On Monday, Toolsie Persaud Limited handed over $500,000 while M&M Snackette donated $200,000. Bishop Juan Edghill presented $193,000 on behalf of a local body of churches.
Earlier, the government had announced a donation of US$1M ($205M) for the fund.