However, about US$470,000 or TT$3 million more is still required to bring and support 70 Haitian students to the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies.

Of the total sum of US$1.3 million for the project (students’ airfares, living expenses and study materials) the UWI St Augustine Campus has already decided to contribute over US$730,000 to the venture, UWI St Augustine Campus Principal Professor Clement Sankat said at the handing over of the donations which took place at the Office of the Central Bank in Port of Spain.

Read More at http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/US_97_000_for_Haitian_students-102120299.html

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa announced the donation during an official visit to Haiti, and said Unasur would also establish a political and technical secretariat in the country to assist with reconstruction plans.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa (L) and Haiti's President Rene Preval

Correa, who currently holds Unasur’s rotating presidency, arrived in Port-au-Prince on Monday night and travelled by helicopter to the country’s north to survey projects being financed by the group and implemented by troops from the organization’s member states.

“We do not want to exercise humanitarian imperialism in Haiti,” he said.

“We want to begin a new form of South-South cooperation, respecting the sovereignty of the Haitian people, and with the belief that the real development actors in Haiti are the Haitian people.”

Organizers donated $1.00 from each combo lunch sold to the Red Cross Haitian Relief Fund. “Mini-Haitian” flags were created that could be purchased for $1.00 and customized with a special tribute message for a loved one affected by the earthquake.

The authentic Haitian menu included: Haitian Broiled White Fish, Queue De Boeuf Braisee (Braised Ox Tail), Groit (Fried Pork), Broccoli Haricot Vert (Green Beans), Diri Jon Jon (Rice Mushrooms), Sucre Bannanna (Sweet Plantain), and Macaroni Au Gratin, to be devoured.

The event raised $256.00, and Morrison’s Food Service matched the amount for a grand total of over $500 that was donated to the American Red Cross Haitian Relief Fund. West Boca Medical Center employees and the general public were all invited and encouraged to enjoy the food in the West Boca Café.

source: dBusiness News

“I made the preliminary information and have referred the case to the prosecution,” said Justice of Peace in Delmas (central district of Port-au-Prince). “What the prosecution will now decide on further action in this matter”, that is to say or not to prosecute the suspects, he said adding that this procedure would take place today.

The hearings are to start around 10:00 local and open to the public, said the prosecutor of Port-au-Prince Mazar fortifications, told reporters in the Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ), where suspects are held.

The ten U.S. citizens, Baptists members of a charity called “The Sanctuary for a new life for children, based in Idaho (north-western United States), were arrested Friday near the Dominican border, along with 33 children from 2 months to 14 years.

The judge “has finished drafting the minutes of the preliminary information and the file will now be forwarded to the prosecution, on Wednesday confirmed Edwin Cock, Haitian lawyer, suspects.

“It is the Government Commissioner (attorney, editor’s note) who will decide whether the case will be sent before a judge or whether they will close the case,” he added, the DCPJ.

The prosecutor of Port-au-Prince fortifications Mazar said Monday that a prosecution for “child trafficking, kidnapping and conspiracy” were considered, confirmed Wednesday what Mr. Pierre-Louis.

“Doing Business”? Not so simple if we are to believe a report from the World Bank is studying the regulation of business in 183 countries worldwide. Haiti therein to 151st rank. “It is very difficult to transact in Haiti and property rights are poorly protected, described Sylvia Solf, one of his editors. We must get the approval from many agencies and the highest authorities of the State to start a business: it takes 195 days on average! ”

Delays are also among the highest in the world to obtain a building permit, connection to electricity and telephone. The World Bank, “we will have rapidly simplify all the basic procedures and secure the title if it wants to attract investors.

And even more so, says Ms. Solf, that “there is a correlation between the complexity of procedures and recourse to corruption.” That is one major concern of donors, while international organizations and “friendly countries” in Haiti were recognized at the Montreal meeting, January 25, the Haitian state, despite governance weaknesses exacerbated by the earthquake was only legitimate to manage and coordinate reconstruction aid for which the total could approach $ 20 billion (14 billion euros).

“The management of this money worries us: we fear that some of the aid is diverted and does not benefit Haitians in need,” warns Marilyn Allien, president of the Heritage Foundation in Haiti, the local branch of Transparency International. This nongovernmental organization has assigned to Haiti note of 1.8 out of 10 in its index of corruption perception in 2009. Only seven countries are rated worse.

“Corruption is endemic in public institutions in Haiti, describes Mrs. Allien. The practice has become routine. The perpetrators enjoy total impunity. It is a practical high performance and low risk for the whole world: officials and elected parliament, the executive, the judiciary, the private sector … ”

The creation between 2004 and 2006, a unit of the fight against corruption, a National Commission on public procurement and a unit of financial information was not enough to clean up the economy. “The head of the National Procurement was kidnapped in February 2006, was never found his body,” sighed Mrs. Allien.

A previous concern especially Transparency International organization denounces the opacity which it claims surrounding the use of program funds to support after the hurricanes of 2008. Including 197 million dollars (141 million) loan from Venezuela under the PetroCaribe funds. “41% of this amount has been allocated to the National Equipment Company, managed by a close associate of President René Préval, said Mrs. Allien. Impossible to know what exactly has been done with this money. According to some allegations, some have served to finance the election platform unit set up by President Préval. ”

The former Prime Minister Michele Duvivier Pierre-Louis, who had requested the audits on the use of these funds has been sacked. It now proposes that the reconstruction is copilotée by Haitian authorities and the international community. It will likely be heard.

“Given the state of the Haitian public, we will develop tools for monitoring and management strengthened, said Bruno Lemarquis, an expert in the office of the crisis the United Nations Program for Development. It is possible that international agencies install their own services on site to implement the programs. ”

Control all the more necessary as the World Bank has proposed to create a single fund bringing together all funding for reconstruction. “However, such a trust fund requires the country to distribute general budget support and not grants arrow on specific projects, observes a French diplomat. This involves a lot of confidence in the ability of countries to manage its budget in a transparent manner. ” Trust: a further element in rebuilding Haiti.

The official news agency of the United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern nation on the Persian Gulf, said a plane carrying 77 tons of basic relief supplies has been sent by the government to Haiti.

On January 21, 2010,  actor Leonardo DiCaprio announced he was donating $1 million to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, the relief effort led by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and one of the organizations benefiting from the telethon.

The telethon will be hosted by journalist Anderson Cooper in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, musician Wyclef Jean in New York, and producer/director George Clooney in Los Angeles, California. Perfomances will be made by Beyonce and husband Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, Mary J. Blige, Coldplay, Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera, Rihanna and U2′s Bono and The Edge in London. All donations from the telethon will benefit the not-for-profit organizations involved in the Haiti Earthquake relief effort.

WoW! With so many of your favorite celebrities and musicians, how could you miss this. Mark your calendar and cancel your date for this Friday night, the show starts at 8 p.m. The only way you’ll miss this is if you don’t have access to a television set, which is rare in 2010.