PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – Some of the world’s richest countries have pledged to cancel debts that this earthquake-stricken Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nation owes them.
The decision by the Group of Seven (G7) countries was announced by Canadian finance minister, Jim Flaherty, at a meeting in northern Canada on Saturday.
“We are committed in the G7 to the forgiveness of debt, in fact all bilateral debt has been forgiven by G7 countries vis-a-vis Haiti,” Flaherty said at the end of a two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, urging international lending agencies to follow suit.
“The debt to multilateral institutions should be forgiven, and we will work with these institutions and other partners to make this happen as soon as possible,” he added.
Haitian authorities estimate that 200,000 people were killed as a result of a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck on January 12. Many buildings in the capital and surrounding areas crumbled during the quake, rendering more than a million people homeless.
The G7 – which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom – has been under pressure to ease the strain on Haiti, which was already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere prior to the earthquake.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the move as the right thing to do.
“It must be right that a nation buried in rubble must not also be buried in debt,” Brown said in a statement.
“The UK has already cancelled all debts owed to it by Haiti and I strongly welcome today’s G7 commitment to forgive Haiti’s remaining multilateral debt,” he added.
Meantime, Caribbean American Congressowman Yvette Clarke welcomed the announcement by the US government that it will work with its global partners to cancel all debts owed to international institutions.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday that the Obama administration will also work to ensure grant financing to support Haiti’s reconstruction and recovery from the devastating earthquake.
“I applaud Secretary Geithner and the Obama Administration for leading a global effort to relieve all of Haiti’s debt,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 11th Congressional District in Brooklyn, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) in New York on Saturday.
“This is an encouraging step forward to the long term recovery for this nation,” added Clarke, who represents the largest district of Caribbean immigrants in the US.
This is very good news for the Haitian people, but don’t give the g7 too much praise because they have been creating this poor nation from since the 1800. They couldn’t stand to see former black slaves defeating their european armies and declaring themselves free. So France manipulated a deal to put the Haitians in debt that we still seeing the results of today.
And for all those ill-informed people that keep spewing this nonsense that Haiti is poor because of obeah, educate yourselves on whats really going on in the world.
thoughtful…..couldn’t have said it better
How nice of them, considering that they created it..
They knew that they weren’t going to get their money back anyway. Nothing but criminals exploiting countries and peoples.
The G7 and G20 are nothing but the international bankers that are bankrupting everyone on this planet by design.
@ Thoughtful: What’s your point? We love the Lord when he kills 200,000 people and we also love the Lord when he cause us to give birth to healthy babies, our children have shelter, food and clothing and when we can come together to help our fellow-man. Read Ecclesiastes. There is a time for everything under the sun. Praise Him in Everything!
stupes…. the French made Haiti pay the billions for their freedom… and america placed and supported presidents and prime ministers there who raped and pillaged the country….
they are part of the reason y Haiti is the way it is….
That is such a good move by the G7..there is no way Haiti would b ever able to pay their debts..
this country has gone through enough already.. I always said dat that was a blessing in disguise for Haiti.. The whole world is helping…
May God give the people of haiti comfort and strength in this difficult time..
@ amen, you said it all.
Yeah, don’t we all just love the Lord when He kills 200,000 people (including women and babies), leave millions without a place to sleep except cardboard tents, and pure misery just to have debts write off.
Lets all hold hand and sing “kumbaya.”
That’s another reason i Love the lord..he makes a bad situation into a good one…and make good out of the bad!!
so u all see it’s a good out of the tragic./