KINGSTON, Jamaica – Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the deployment of local troops to Haiti is contingent on the finalization of critical resourcing and is awaiting confirmation on funding and other agreements in furtherance of the mission.
Prime Minister Andrew HolnessThe Prime Minister said he received the update from the Chief of Defence Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force during a recent meeting of the National Security Council.
The deployment of troops to Haiti is part of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to restore stability to the country which has long been rocked by gang violence that worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in the capital Port-au-Prince, saying they wanted to overthrow then Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Earlier this week, the government of Kenya sent troops to Haiti.
In addition to Jamaica, other countries in the region have pledged to assist in the restoration of order, they are The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Belize.
In the first three months of this year 2,500 people were killed or injured in Haiti and the spike in violence has displaced more than half a million people.
Gangs now control at least 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince and key roads.
