Latest update February 8th, 2025 6:23 PM
Latest News
- Soaring gold price entices Canadian company to renew permits in Guyana
- Terrence Campbell accuses Govt. of weaponizing Police Force after calls for accountability with oil revenues
- China slams US as Panama quits Belt and Road Initiative
- Guyana extradites fugitive to Canada
- AFC Leader Nigel Hughes welcomes any investigation into lands he acquired
PNCR would support relocating Haiti survivors to Guyana
– Corbin
Relocating some of the surviving inhabitants of the earthquake affected Haiti to Guyana as a long term resolution could gain the support of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).
This notion was alluded to by the party’s leader, Robert Corbin, last week. According to Corbin, the PNCR’s position as it relates to immigration is in fact not new. He recounted that the PNC several years ago had engaged in several immigration programmes including the bringing of Jamaicans to settle on the Linden/Soesdyke highway. “We had even brought people and settled them in the hinterland. They did not all turn out to be as successful as was initially contemplated because for some reason many of those immigrants returned to their original places,” Corbin disclosed.
In principal, he asserted, the party has always been of the mind that if Guyana can offer support to people from around the world “we should not hold back. We have 83,000 square miles most of which are not fully populated…but once we regulate and put systems in place and it can contribute to our development we would support such initiatives as a broad policy.”
However, experience has shown that such programmes and initiatives cannot be forced into being, Corbin emphasised. He cautioned that the initial move toward such a venture should come from the people of Haiti and not Guyana. “When people are in crisis or in a tragedy they always assume that the pasture on the other side is greener, so we should not bring this option to them.”
Meanwhile, a proposal to send troops to the devastated island has also been discussed, according to Corbin. But based on the discussions, he noted that more than troops would be required. He highlighted that both medical and other technical personnel are needed urgently.
“In one hospital (in Haiti) it was reported that some 100 doctors cannot be located so that immediately tells you that even if you rescue those persons who are trapped you would need, apart from medical supplies, sufficient medical personnel,” Corbin stressed.
Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin
He related that there have been reports from the Guyana Red Cross that there are several persons in Guyana who are trained to operate in emergency circumstances and they could be mobilised for travel to Haiti should the need arise. “I suspect that when and if the need arises we will have no problems, as we did in the case of Grenada, offering the use of our armed forces to provide any support there.”
Corbin disclosed that with a Caricom mission on the Haitian ground trying to fully assess the situation, concerned countries could gain a better understanding of the most appropriate support that is needful. “On the basis of that assessment we will be in a better position to respond to what is needed. If that arises I don’t think we should rule out any support once we are in a position to do so,” the opposition leader added.
Although US$1M is but a drop in the ocean to what is needed to help Haiti, Corbin is of the belief that the government’s gesture is tremendous given the status of local resources. He had speculated at the party’s last Thursday press briefing that the amount being offered by Guyana will quadruple through voluntary contributions of cash and kind, a prediction which has already begun to materialise. “We have a responsibility to mobilise whatever resources we can to see what assistance we can give. When I perused the internet it was the first time that I was emotionally affected by a national tragedy…It is horrendous. People are still trapped, some are missing and buildings are still collapsing. It is a very sad situation,” Corbin opined.
The desperate situation in Haiti has also prompted the formation of a National Co-ordinating Committee headed by Minister with responsibility for Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Due diligence on investments must become a priority
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- In 1985, the Forbes Burnham government looking for economic salvation, entered into a memorandum... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
