Jamaica remains committed to deploying military support to Haiti, as part of a security and humanitarian effort to assist the French-speaking CARICOM country in addressing the ongoing gang violence in the country.

That’s the declaration from Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who was speaking at a quarterly press conference on Thursday, August 3, where he reiterated the country’s commitment to assisting Haiti. However, he noted that this requires a strategic approach to ensure that this deployment does not impact Jamaica’s security.

“As it is now, Jamaica’s commitment still stands. We certainly can’t go up to the 1,000 troops that have been suggested in the media for the Kenyans, but we will give what we can. We have our own challenges here, and I think I need to say this for the Jamaican people that whatever we do cannot impact in a negative way our own security challenges here. But as a sovereign nation, we look at all threats to over safety and security and we act pre-emptively and strategically to ensure we have capabilities to deal with those threats,” he explained.

Holness expressed gratitude to Kenya committing to assist Haiti to quell ongoing gang violence in the country.

Kenya has reportedly volunteered to send 1,000 troops to Haiti to assist with restoring order in the country, once approved by the United Nations Security Council.

The prime minister said that while Jamaica is committed to assisting its Caribbean neighbour, the limited resources do not provide Jamaica with the option to take a lead in Haiti..

Holness, however, reiterated Jamaica’s solidarity with and sympathy for Haiti.