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28317: Hermantin(News)State still backs Haiti initiative (fwd)
From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>
Sun Sentinel
State still backs Haiti initiative
Marie-Florence
Siclait Bell Palmetto Bay
April 16, 2006
Re your April 2 editorial and a previous South Florida Sun-Sentinel article
about Gov. Jeb Bush' s Florida-Haiti Initiative: While it is unfortunately true
that in the 2005 legislative session, the Florida Legislature reduced the
governor's recommended international affairs budget by $2.83 million, including
funding for implementation of Haiti assistance recommendations, Florida efforts
to assist Haiti have continued to move forward with zeal.
Despite the lack of state funding and significant political unrest in Haiti,
the governor's office has been able to accomplish a great deal in the few short
months since the release of the Haiti Advisory Group Report. Working with a
number of entities, some of Florida's accomplishments include: criminal
forensics training of Haitian National Police (PNH) officers in Florida as well
as the securing of criminal forensic equipment for the PNH, the recruitment and
dispatch of election observers from the offices of Florida supervisors of
elections for February's Haitian presidential elections, the briefing/training
of Haitian civil protection officials in Florida and Haiti in preparation for
the upcoming hurricane season, and the securing of federal funding for Haitian
student scholarships for study at Florida community colleges.
These are just a few examples; many, many more can be found in the
Florida-Haiti Initiative status report, at http://international
affairs.flgov.com.
For fiscal year 2006-2007, and the second legislative session in a row, Bush
has recommended state funding for the implementation of Haiti Advisory Group
recommendations. If the Florida Legislature sees fit to fund this noble
initiative, much more work can be done in Haiti.
And it could not come at a better time. With a newly elected and long-awaited
Haitian president soon to be sworn into office, the country is at a crucial
turning point in its history. Gov. Bush and the state should be commended for
continuing to extend the hand of supportive friendship to Caribbean neighbors
in Haiti.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel