Statement - Return of Forces From Haiti

March 17, 2010

 STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER

Return of JDF forces from Haiti

The House is already aware that within 36 hours of the earthquake which

struck ·Haiti on January 12, we dispatched a contingent of 158 JDF soldiers

to render assistance in the wake of that terrible tragedy. They have

maintained a strong presence there since then and have been engaged in

various operations including search and rescue, distribution of relief

supplies and logistics support for other personnel from the fire service,

health service and disaster management agencies whom we have also

dispatched to Haiti.

The presence of the Jamaican forces has been part of the Caricom

response and Jamaica as the Caribbean nation closest to Haiti has been

proud to have been able to lead that response.

Caricom Heads had agreed that the focus of Caricom's efforts in this

preliminary stage would have been providing critical health services. We

have performed well in this regard and I wish to again express our thanks

to our doctors, nurses, medical specialists and technicians who have given

such valuable service in this effort. Special mention must also be made of

our fire service personnel who rescued 6 persons trapped under piles of

rubble,. the last of whom was recovered miraculously 15 days after the

earthquake.

A total of 159 health workers were deployed - 141 from Jamaica and 18

from other Caribbean countries. More than 10,000 patients were seen and

treated including over 200 major surgical operations.

The situation in Haiti is gradually transitioning from emergency response to

longer term reconstruction.

At last week's meeting of Caricom Heads held in Dominica, it was agreed

that Caricom would now refocus its efforts on reconstruction. The details of

this and the functional areas in which our efforts will be concentrated are

still being worked out with the Haiti's President Rene Preval who attended

the meeting in Dominica. Areas being considered include planning and

coordination of new housing development, the building of schools and

support for the agricultural sector. These discussions are being

coordinated by the Most Honourable P.J. Patterson in his capacity as

Caricom's Special Envoy on Haiti.

Given the shift in focus and after consultation with the other Heads of

Government of Caricom, the decision has been taken for the JDF

contingent to return to Jamaica. Demobilization is already underway and

our troops are scheduled to start arriving back home tonight and will all be

back in Jamaica before the end of the week.

I wish to express our appreciation to the government of Canada which has

provided a vital air bridge in Jamaica to facilitate our efforts.

Canada Military aircraft flew 28 missions for us transporting personnel and

over 500 tons of relief supplies. Even now, they are assisting in

transporting our troops back home.

I wish, finally, to commend the members of the Jamaica Defence Force

who have served so well and have made us extremely proud. President

PrevaI, on several occasions, has expressed the gratitude of the Haitian

government and people for our quick response and the assistance we have

been able to render.

I wish to thank, in particular, Major Jaimie Ogilvie and Lt. Col. Desmond

Edwards who have been in charge of our contingent and to commend them

for the outstanding leadership that they have provided in this effort.