New Jamaican security forces team to be deployed to Haiti soon

 

A new twenty-one member CARICOM Joint Task Force- Haiti relief team comprising personnel from the Jamaica Defence Force [JDF] and the Jamaica Constabulary Force [JCF], will be deployed to Haiti to support the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission.  

 

The relief team includes eighteen members from the JDF and three from the JCF. 

 

They will continue the work started by the advance team, deployed to Haiti in September last year.

 

The JDF says that advance team will return home following the successful completion of its deployment to Haiti as part of the MSS.

 

The returning team, led by Colonel Kevron Henry, assisted in the establishment of the MSS Headquarters and prepared the foundation for follow-on forces operating in the crisis-stricken country.

 

The JDF says throughout the deployment, the Jamaican troops played strategic and operational roles in supporting the MSS mandate. In addition, members were tasked with providing security at the Logistic Support Area, the main base where MSS personnel are accommodated and critical facilities housed.

 

Reflecting on the deployment, Colonel Henry said the threat level in Haiti remains high and constant, but according to him, Jamaican personnel were highly motivated and undaunted. 

 

Meanwhile Acting Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Mahatma Williams, says despite the tense and dangerous conditions on the ground, the Jamaican contingent fulfilled its mission with excellence. 

 

The JDF says the rotation of personnel reflects Jamaica's long-term commitment to the mission and its role as a responsible and proactive member of the regional and international community. 

 

The United Nations-backed MSS Mission has been plagued by poor financial and personnel support. This has worsened since US President, Donald Trump in February pulled the plug on major programmes supported by the country's foreign aid allocations, including the MSS. 

 

The US had been one of the major financial contributors, along with France, Canada, Turkey, Spain, Italy, and Algeria, with personnel support and leadership from Kenyan armed forces.