(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – If Haiti, which has been hit by hurricane Isaac, does not get aid soon, food shortages may loom in the region’s poorest country. Crisis talks held by the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington must result in extra emergency aid to Haiti, which is still suffering the effects of 2010’s devastating earthquake.
OAS Assistant Secretary-General Albert Ramdin has called on member states to provide aid. “I have also called on those CARICOM countries with an agrarian tradition to make seeds and plant materials available, including rice and bananas. If Haiti’s agrarian sector is not restored, food might become scarce and hunger might increase,” Ramdin tells de Ware Tijd from Washington. He is also chairman of the Haiti Task Force which coordinates regional efforts to rebuild the country.
“Both the Haitian government and the international community want to contain the negative effects of hurricane Isaac on Haiti’s macro-economic and social stability,” Ramdin states. In early October, he will lead a technical team of the OAS and other inter-American institutes that is to visit Haiti and discuss further cooperation. Earlier this week, representatives of OAS member states met in Washington to discuss Isaac’s effects on Haiti. This meeting was also attended by representatives of the Pan-American Health Organization, the Pan American Development Foundation, the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture and the International Monetary Fund. European countries also sent a representative to the meeting.
Ramdin says aid is needed for the agricultural and animal husbandry sectors, which have been hit hard. Many crops, including bananas, coffee, avocado, and citrus trees have reportedly suffered around US$ 242 million in damage. In the meantime, Haiti’s neighbor the Dominican Republic has already started providing emergency aid. Other countries have promised to send heavy equipment to clean up and replant the damaged crops.