ATTORNEY GENERAL Reginald Armour, SC, said on Friday the Government was trying to help Haiti, but that troubled nation must be addressed with care, not loud sound bites. He was wrapping up debate in the House of Representatives on his motion to extend the term of sanctions the House had approved last June against Haitian gang leader Jimmy Chérizier nicknamed "Barbecue." The motion was approved.
The AG said Caricom had created an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) mandated to "facilitate dialogue and consensus-building among Haitian stakeholders with the aim of resolving the political impasse." Armour said TT remains committed to this process.
The group members consist of three past prime ministers of Jamaica (Bruce Golding), the Bahamas (Perry Christie) and St Lucia (Dr Kenny Anthony).
He said the group was established by Caricom as guided by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley overseeing national security in the Caricom Quasi Cabinet.
The group works with Haitian stakeholders to help them resolve their political impasse, the AG said.
"It is a delicate, careful process that has to be engaged in with resolve, with will, and quietly," he said, "not to be shouted for sound bite purposes from rooftops and empty barrels." He rejected claims the Government was doing nothing about Haiti, citing the day's order and its predecessor order last June.
"The fact is there are processes that have been drafted, court processes, that rely on this resolution being passed, so that when the applications are made to the court, this resolution will be referenced in those court applications.
"I'm not about to say in relation to whom, because I don't want to alert those persons."
Armour cited a previous Government statement welcoming Kenya's offer to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti and to provide leadership to the security contingent.
He alleged Princes Town MP Barry Padarath's earlier contribution as being "fundamentally flawed."
Rejecting opposition claims that TT was treating Venezuelan migrants better than Haitians, the AG said visitors from both countries actually need visas to enter TT (without referencing the Venezuelan migrant registration card).
Earlier, Naparima MP Rodney Charles asked why MPs were again debating the order previously passed, when in Canada the order persisted without needing renewal.
"Doing the same thing over and over. A lot of song and fury signifying nothing."
Charles perceived a lack of progress in help given to Haiti.
"We dealt with this before. We are not doing enough for Haiti. Haiti has been a member of Caricom since 2002."
He said TT was obliged to Haiti under UN resolution UNSCR 2653(2022) and both nations links geographically, demographically, psychographically, and historically.
Charles cited recent news reports on Haiti.
He quoted, "Gangs have seized control of up to 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince, killing, raping and sowing terror in communities already suffering endemic poverty. "There was a surge in violence in parts of Haiti's capital that pushed over 3,000 pe
