Greater Georgetown, Guyana – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has embarked on a special and targeted intervention to assist Haiti in improving efficiency and professionalism in its Public Sector.
One of the major objectives of the project, funded by Canada, is to build capacity in key areas of the Haitian Public Sector, especially those related to the operations of the Single Market and the operations of the Community. The activity in its implementation targets areas such as trade in goods and services and training and technical assistance to specific departments and services including, tax collection, Customs, Commerce and Finance Ministries.
In explaining the rationale for the project, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General for Foreign and Community Relations, Ambassador Colin Granderson averred that “if Haiti is to move forward in national development, then it needs a strong public sector.”
“We hope that through training and technical exchanges, we will be in a position to help Haiti through those precise and focused areas,” Ambassador Granderson stated.
Ambassador Granderson who was briefing the CARICOM Secretariat Public Information Unit recently, was of the opinion that Haiti could not be developed through the utilization of support of Non-governmental Organisations (NGO’s) and international donor agencies only. While those were already in the field in Haiti and provided tremendous help, he asserted, they could not replace an efficient and professional public sector, which he said was what Haiti needed for national development.
In underscoring the sentiment of Haiti’s President H.E. Rene Preval, the Assistant Secretary-General reiterated that “Haiti doesn’t want charity; Haiti wants support to deal with the root of its problems to allow it to be able to develop.”
He further acknowledged that in an effort to rebuild the country’s image, and change the negative perception, greater emphasis must be placed on public education as well as cultural exchanges.
According to Ambassador Granderson, there was “an extraordinary cultural richness in Haiti which is glimpsed from time-to-time but not well known,” as a result, “more positive messages need to be transmitted more regularly – messages which tell the story about a country which is extremely dynamic with great potential in tourism; a country that has a future; a country which may be going through a difficult time now but one that has hope.”
It may be a difficult and long haul in reengineering public perception but it is not an impossible task; the CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General concluded.
