Police Force, Bankers boost Haiti relief fund

Jan 20, 2010 News

As organizations continue to call for more contributions towards the Haiti Relief Fund, several commercial banks and the Guyana Police Force yesterday made sizable donations.
The cash donations were handed over to Chairperson of the National Committee for Haiti Relief, Minister Priya Manickchand, during a simple ceremony which was held at the Civil Defence Commission office.
The Guyana Police Force made a donation of $2M, while Scotiabank donated $1M, Demerara Bank $1M, GBTI $5M, Citizens Bank $1M, Republic Bank $5M and Bank of Baroda $500,000.
Assistant Commissioner Administration, Khrishna Lakeraj made the presentation on behalf of the Guyana Police Force.

Minister Manickchand noted that despite the fact getting aid to Haiti still remains a challenge, the Committee is working towards getting the first shipment of aid to the country by this weekend. The Minister informed that they have so far secured the services of a ship, courtesy of BK International, which will be used to transport aid; $6M worth of medical supplies from the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation; a container of bottled water from Demerara Distillers Limited; 100 cases of bottled water from Just Water; $500,000 worth of oil from Pomeroon Oil Mills; a container of bottled water from International Pharmaceutical Agency; 200 kitchen sinks from Fiber Tech Industrials; one container of food items from the Beharry Group of Companies; a container of lumber from Howard Bulkan and dried food from other organizations.

Assistant Commissioner (Administration), Khrishna Lakeraj, presents a cheque on behalf of the Guyana Police Force to Minister Priya Manickchand.

Also at the handing over ceremony, Chairman of the Guyana Bankers Association John Tracey said that entity was pleased to be a part of the relief effort towards Haiti. He said apart from the monies already donated, each bank has committed toward collecting additional funds from their staffers.
He further commended the Government of Guyana for their efforts towards assisting Haiti and its people.
Meanwhile Minister Manickchand said that to show transparency in collecting funds, a website will be established to keep the public up to date with the amount of funds collected. She further reiterated that no monies garnered for the Haiti relief fund will go towards the Committee’s administrative activities.