Dear Editor,
In the face of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Matthew on our sister country of Haiti, we call on the Government of Guyana to show its solidarity by mobilizing emergency relief supplies urgently. We remember that Guyana was one of the first countries to respond when the January 2010 earthquake struck. We are heartened by the Government of Guyana’s stated commitment to work with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) response to this new crisis facing Haiti. However, media reports show the challenges and slow responses in getting relief supplies to the affected communities and people across Haiti. As such we ask that the Government update the Guyanese people on the CDEMA response, and Guyana’s contributions to this response. This is the time to come together nationally and continue Guyana’s proud tradition of responding to humanitarian crises regionally and internationally.
We also call on the Government to allow all Haitians seeking entry to Guyana to be granted emergency residence as part of Guyana’s humanitarian response and stop or reverse all deportations of Haitians.
Yours faithfully,
Andaiye
Charlene Wilkinson
Nigel Westmaas
Sherlina Nageer
David Hinds
Norwell Hinds
Danuta Radzik
