By Leiselle Maraj Tuesday, March 2 2010

click on pic to zoom in

Destroyed: A woman climbs over the debris of her destroyed house in Dichato, Chile, yesterday after an earthquake on Saturday....

Caricom Secretary General Dr Edwin Carrington yesterday urged member states to assist Chile after the country experienced an 8.8 magnitude earthquake on Saturday. At the opening ceremony for the 14th meeting of the Caricom Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP) held at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann’s, Carrington noted that support for Haiti from Caricom was almost immediate in the wake of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake which shook the impoverished nation in January.

“Honourable Ministers, as we strive to provide the greatest possible support to Haiti, we cannot fail to take cognizance of the near similar situation which has befallen Chile. At the recent Summit of the Nations of Latin America and the Caribbean in Cancun, Mexico on 23rd, February 2010, Her Excellency the President of Chile (Michelle Bachelet) pledged her strongest possible support to Haiti. Today, her country is itself similarly in dire need. We cannot fail to assist our neighbour to the best of our ability in their time of need,” he said.

Bachelet visited this country for a few hours last Tuesday on a State visit, mere days before the natural disaster occurred resulting in hundreds of deaths and damage and destruction to several structures. Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira, who was the chair of the one-day COFAP meeting, also spoke of the Haitian earthquake, urging Caricom members to remain committed to Haiti’s restoration and reconstruction. She explained that Government has already put in place a mechanism for the Central Bank to be the financial agent for channeling financial assistance to fund Haitian relief and reconstruction efforts.

Even as these calls for support were made, the Office for Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) launched a Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning Systems (TCHWS) project at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain. ODPM collaborated with the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, the US Agency for International Development and the UWI Seismic research Centre for the project. Residents of coastal communities are expected to take part in activities and projects which will teach them how to prepare and respond to tsunamis and other coastal hazards under the TCHWS project.