Dear Editor,
I seek to correct factual errors and misconceptions contained in your editorial of Monday 18 January 2010, captioned ‘Haiti and the Caricom reply.’
The Caribbean Community (Caricom) issued its initial response to the tragic events in Haiti at 9.30 pm on Tuesday, January 12, three-and-a-half hours after the catastrophe occurred. That response was posted on the website www.caricom.org and despatched to the regional media via the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) at the same time. It is therefore not true to say that “it was not until after midday on January 14 that the Georgetown-based Caricom Secretariat was able to issue a formal statement.”
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), as the region’s disaster response mechanism has been organising in a structured way the relief efforts of the Community. The efforts by individual member states are in support of the regional response co-ordinated by CDEMA and not apart from the regional effort.
In the arrangements established by CDEMA for the response to disasters, there are focal points for each sub-region. In the sub-region to which Haiti belongs, Jamaica is the focal point. Less than 24 hours after the earthquake struck, a Jamaica Defence Force ship with supplies and personnel on board was en route to Haiti on Wednesday, January 13. It is therefore not true to say that CDEMA had not been “primed for action.” It is also a patent untruth to say that “The Community was unable to get itself together to immediately offer succour to its gravely stricken sister nation,” and that there were “no boots on the ground in Haiti.”
On Thursday, January 14, Jamaica Prime Minister Bruce Golding met with President Rene Preval of Haiti and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, and based on their discussions, briefed the Chairman of Caricom, Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt, Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson and Caricom Secretary-General Edwin Carrington, who had arrived in Jamaica on Thursday, less than 48 hours after the earthquake, to proceed to Haiti. In the event the prime ministerial team was unable to land in Haiti because of the congestion there at the airport, and rather than remain in a holding pattern burning fuel determined to return Kingston. The intelligence gained by Prime Minister Golding from his discussion with the President and Prime Minister during his visit to Haiti formed the basis on which the Prime Ministers were able to decide on additional measures to be taken in response to the crisis.
This information and more was made available to the media: on Wednesday via a series of interviews conducted with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), media outlets in Guyana and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); on the morning of Thursday, January 14, 2010 through a second press statement; and through a third press statement on Friday, January 15, 2010.
It is misleading to say of CDEMA, “it could be said that it has failed comprehensively.” Judged by the standards laid down in your editorial, it responded within hours of the catastrophe; it is operating as the focal point for action; and it has tapped national nodes for emergency relief.
Editor, you might wish to re-read the sentence in your editorial which states; “there was no reason why this could not have been set in motion on the afternoon of January 12,” and draw to your attention that the earthquake struck after six pm Eastern Caribbean time.
It is unfortunate that some Caricom media choose to ignore the information provided by the Caricom agencies while promoting that of extra-regional agencies and countries.
All for your information and guidance
Yours faithfully,
Leonard Robertson
Adviser Public
Information
Caricom Secretariat
Editor’s note
Caricom Secretariat responses and press releases are usually issued to Stabroek News and other media directly by the Secretariat via the following email address: [email protected]. Given the gravity of the event one wonders why the Secretariat did not directly distribute this response in the same manner. The Secretariat should enquire from the Caribbean Media Corporation what efforts were made to widely disseminate the response. If Mr Robertson provides the link for the response Stabroek News shall publish its contents.
Mr Robertson points out – as was already noted in the editorial – that in the arrangements for CDEMA there are focal points for each sub-region and in this case Jamaica was the focal point and that less than 24 hours after the earthquake struck a Jamaica Defence Force ship was en route to Haiti on January 13. He implied there was automaticity in this arrangement.
Contrary to Mr Robertson’s assertion, it would seem that Jamaica acted on its own and without any reference to CDEMA. Indeed, the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) reported Prime Minister Golding as saying on January 13, “Jamaica has always responded immediately in whatever way we can to natural disasters in Haiti and this time will be no exception. Already the mobilization of relief supplies is underway. Contributions from the private sector as well as supplies from the Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODPEM) will be sent to Haiti today. Our help will be a part of international co-ordinated efforts to move food and medical supplies into the country and also to assist Jamaican and Caricom nationals to return home.
“In the next few days, after search and rescue teams have evaluated the physical environment to be stable, we will dispatch members of the Jamaica Defence Force to participate in reconstruction efforts that will enable basic infrastructure of electricity, water and telecommunications to function again.”
It was not until January 14, according to the JIS, that Jamaica was designated the CDEMA focal point for relief operations. This was disclosed by Jamaican Minister with responsibility for Information Daryl Vaz at a press conference on January 15. Mr Vaz, according to the JIS, said the decision was taken at a meeting on January 14 of regional leaders at Jamaica House in Kingston. It would therefore follow that Jamaica’s most commendable initial effort was initiated without reference to CDEMA.
The earthquake occurred at exactly 3.53 pm local time – the time zone in which the Secretariat is located – and the first Reuters bulletin was posted at 4 pm. Incidentally, the news about the earthquake was posted on the Stabroek News website an hour later.
Stabroek News remains of the view that the response by Caricom was slow and insufficiently co-ordinated.
