(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Prime Minister of Dominica, Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit wants the operations of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Haiti recovery and reconstruction efforts to be stream-lined, and has called on the United Nations to assist in doing so.

In a press conference at the 31st Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community at the Rose Hall Resorts and Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Monday, Prime Minister Skerrit told the media that there were several NGOs doing their own thing in Haiti, oblivious to the vision, strategic direction and wishes of the Haitian Government.

The press conference was convened following discussions between the Secretaries General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, and the Organisation of American States, Mr. Jose Miguel Insulza and Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community

The outgoing CARICOM Chairman, who on Sunday was commended by the CARICOM Secretary-General for his role in guiding the CARICOM support to Haiti following the earthquake on January 12, told the press conference that CARICOM had asked the UN Secretary General to assist with streamlining the operations and activities of NGOs in Haiti.

“While we speak about maintaining democracy in Haiti, we cannot at the same time be empowering NGOs to undermine the democratic institutions that are in Haiti,” Mr. Skerrit explained.

He expressed grave concern that if the situation was not addressed, the inroads made in Haiti, would be seriously jeopardized, especially in light of impending general elections in February 2011.

“We believe that the situation is untenable, and we should put an immediate stop to it. We must call on the international institutions and government to desist from putting the resources into NGOs,” the Dominica Prime Minister asserted.

Prime Minister Skerrit also underscored the need to fast-track budgetary support to the government of Haiti, so that they can meet their daily obligations to the people especially in the payment of salaries to public sector workers.

He told a large gathering of media representatives that there was a perception in Haiti that the government had access to resources which were not redounding to the benefit of the people. This misconception, PM Skerritt explained, stemmed from the reports of the many pledges that were being made, yet many of those pledges, he said, had not yet been honoured.

On Sunday, at the Opening Ceremony, the UN Secretary-General had also alluded to this issue and had urged the international community to expedite actions in regard to the pledges made to the recovery efforts in Haiti.

Contact: piu@caricom.org