The republic of Haiti occupies the western portion of the island of Hispanola

the master of the 18th century cash cow – Sugar.  And for France at that time, the “business” of Haiti provided an extraordinary benefit.  In fact, one in eight French derived there wealth directly or indirectly from the colony.  In 1789, the GNP of Haiti was equal to 1/3rd of the French mainland’s economy.  The western side of the island of Saint- Domingue was also rich in gold and minerals.  You may ask “what is your point”?  The point is to demonstrate that poor Haiti was not always “poor Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere”.  It was a sustainable country.  Responsible for building wealth and bringing prestige.  So, knowing the history, how can we re-build a sustainable Haiti?  First it must start with a sustainable plan.  One that must be engineered from the ground up.  The country has many opportunities now.  We must never forget the Heroism of a people who yearned to build a sustainable Haiti.  They have a term used frequently in Haiti it is called ”Degaje” and it means “do what you have to do” or make do with what you got.  We want to make do but we want to ensure that we build a Haiti that is lasting.  What would be your sustainable plan for Haiti?

Dr Warren Smith, Director of Finance and Corporate Planning at the CDB and Board member of the CCRIF, looks on as Jeremy Collymore, Coordinator of CDERA and Milo Pearson, Chairman of the CCRIF shake hands on the signing of the MOU between their two agencies.

With this in mind, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalising a partnership to facilitate capacity building and to develop strategies for mitigating the physical and socio-economic impacts of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, on countries in the region.

The signing took place on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at the offices of the Caribbean Development Bank in Bridgetown, Barbados. Milo Pearson, Chairman of CCRIF signed on behalf of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility while Jeremy Collymore, Coordinator, CDERA signed for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency.

The objectives of the MOU are to promote the use of catastrophe risk modelling tools, to introduce new products and initiatives to assist Caribbean governments in better understanding and financing catastrophe risk exposures and to share information on real time hazard and impact information.

In his remarks, Pearson said that the CCRIF’s participation in this partnership will enable the governments in the region to access financial resources in a timely manner to jumpstart their countries’ economic recovery in the aftermath of a major catastrophe disaster. In the past two years, the CCRIF paid out approximately US$500,000 each to Dominica and St. Lucia after an earthquake occurred in 2007, and US$6.3 million to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. The CCRIF continues to work on developing new products, such as an extreme rainfall coverage, that will benefit countries throughout the region.

Collymore added that the Memorandum of Understanding strengthens CDERA’s ability to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action that aims to reduce countries’ vulnerability to natural hazards. He noted: “the MOU represents the launching of a platform to minimise the hemorrhaging of regional assets, particularly in relation to hydrometeorological hazards.”

Nineteen Caribbean governments will benefit from this MOU: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands who are current members of both the CCRIF and CDERA, as well as CCRIF members, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Haiti and CDERA members the British Virgin Islands, Guyana, and Montserrat. ]]> http://sustainablecaribbean.com/2009/08/caribbean-agencies-create-partnership-for-natural-disaster-management/feed/ 0