22159: Esser: Caricom to provide flood relief to Haiti and Dominican Republic (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Agence France Presse

May 29, 2004

Caricom to provide flood relief to Haiti and Dominican Republic

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP) May 29, 2004
The Caribbean Community (Caricom) will provide disaster relief to
storm-ravaged Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where at least 958
people were killed in flash floods, the organisation said Saturday.

"Caricom, for its part, will work through the Barbados-based
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Relief Agency (CDERA) to contribute to
the relief effort," the regional bloc said in a statement.

"We were indeed very saddened to hear about the situation in Haiti
and the Dominican Republic, and the secretariat has moved very
quickly to ensure that a mechanism is put in place so that there is a
coordinated Caricom response through CDERA," Deputy Caricom Secretary
General Lolita Applewhaite told AFP.

Haiti is a Caricom member nation, but the Dominican Republic does not
belong to the group.

Caricom and CDERA said the region's refusal to recognize the interim
Haitian administration that took power after Jean Bertrand Aristide
fled into exile would not affect Caricom's provision of disaster
relief.

"Humanitarian assistance knows no political boundaries," said CDERA
spokesman Terry Ally.
.