Haiti Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive says his country is grateful for the quick response of CARICOM in the wake of the devastating earthquake of Tuesday, January 12.

A news release from the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen yesterday quoted Prime Minister Bellerive as saying that his country is “indeed grateful for the quick response of the CARICOM leaders to our plight.”

Speaking to the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), which was part of CARICOM’s Tactical Mission to Haiti, Bellerive added that “we count on our friends of the CARICOM to be our ambassadors, to help us convince the world that we need strong help.”

He told CMC he had already held talks with Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding on what role CARICOM could play in the rebuilding of the country.

He said too that  the community could play a leading role in securing much needed financial and technical assistance to his earthquake battered country in the years ahead. “They can do a lot. First we want technical assistance…it is not only money…the CARICOM can do a lot, they can also be our ambassadors outside be-cause… they can travel and explain the situation in Haiti,” the Prime Minister told CMC.

His words of appreciation came as the community intensified its relief efforts through the appointment of Brigadier General (Ret) Earl Arthurs of Belize as Special Co-ordinator on the ground in Haiti. General Arthurs, who led the CARICOM tactical mission which arrived in Haiti on Sunday, assumed responsibility on Tuesday and will remain in Haiti to carry out his assignment, the release said.

The Special Coordinator will be responsible for ensuring that the community’s Haiti Response Mission for the Haiti Earthquake is effectively pursued on the ground in Haiti.

The Special Coordinator will also be the link between the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the stricken country and other coordination mechanisms in Haiti.

Meanwhile, in an effort to maximise assistance to Haiti, CDEMA has said that financial contributions will be the preferred means of aid at this time rather than goods given the logistical challenges being faced in Haiti.

A meeting was held in the Dominican Republic on Monday under the chairmanship of the President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández Reyna, to examine the best means of addressing the situation in Haiti.

At the meeting CARICOM was appointed as a member of a Coordination Committee created to organise an international conference which will have as its objective  devising a strategic plan for the reconstruction of Haiti.

This plan, according to the release, is intended to go beyond emergency assistance and would contribute to strengthening the viability and the political, economic and social stability of Haiti, in the medium and long term.

Meanwhile, the committee comprising Haiti, the Dominican Republic, CARICOM, the United Nations, the European Union, the Organisation of American States, the Rio Group, the United States, Canada, Brazil and the Inter-American Development Bank will be responsible for organising the conference and will hold its first meeting next Monday in Canada, the release concluded.