By Gareth Davis, Freelance Writer
Haitians who arrived in Jamaica earlier this year. - File
PORTLAND
THE 20 HAITIAN refugees who landed off the coast of Boston Bay, Portland, on Thursday are being housed at the Winnifred Rest Home, a designated shelter for refugees in the parish.
Unlike previous arrangements where the well-being and monitoring of the Haitians were coordinated by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), with assistance from the various civic groups the National Haitians Co-ordination Team, through the Ministry of National Security, has assumed responsibility of the refugees.
"Since June 2004, the decision was taken for the parish disaster committee (PDC) which is headed by the ODPEM to focus primarily, for the remainder of the year, on natural disasters," said Fay Neufville, parish coordinator of ODPEM. "The National Security Ministry, through the National Haitians Coordination Team, has taken over the role and complete governance of the Haitians."
Mrs. Neufville noted that various civic groups including the Red Cross and the local Salvation Army also form a part of the PDC and, therefore, are exempt from any role in providing assistance to the Haitians.
RESOURCES EXHAUSTED
But head of the local Salvation Army, Major Selburn Oates, whose organisation played an integral part in the well-being of other Haitian refugees who were once housed at the Winnifred Rest Home, told The Sunday Gleaner that all the resources of the Salvation Army was exhausted as a result of the assistance given to the last batch of refugees in the parish.
"We used up a lot of cash, food and materials to facilitate the Haitians," he said. "We are now operating at a deficit and despite our pleas for help, our cries have fallen on deaf ears," he said.
Mr. Oates noted that while the work of the local Salvation Army team was done strictly on humanitarian grounds, the organisation was in dire need of assistance.
Meanwhile, a local police source told The Sunday Gleaner that the Haitians will be transferred to Montpelier in St. James upon completion of processing and screening by the Ministry of Health and the Immigration Department.
The Sunday Gleaner understands that the Ministry of Health has taken blood samples from the Haitians to tested for communicable diseases.
The group of Haitians left their homeland about 6:00 p.m. on September 24, en-route to Miami, but due to poor weather conditions and a freak storm which they encountered, they diverted from their original plan and ended up on Jamaican shores.
A member of the group, Mark Josephs, an English teacher who also speaks fluent creole and French, had earlier indicated that the island of Haiti was battered as a result of Tropical Storm Jeanne and there was political violence.
He also said that no drinking water was available in Haiti and that many had died as a result of communicable diseases .
