The outgoing Prime Minister of Haiti, Jean-Max Bellerive, yesterday said he was opposed to the suppression of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC). In a statement, he said believe in the usefulness of the commission "to fill the deficiencies in the coordination of international aid to Haiti" but he has the "feeling" that the IHRC "can and must do better" its work.

For his part, the possible successor as Prime Minister, Daniel Gérard Rouzier, has declared Tuesday to a radio of the capital "We are in full brainstorming in order to transform it into an "Agency of the Reconstruction", we believe that the IHRC should become an institution Haitiano-Haitian [...] we try to do our best to keep President Clinton [...] the agenda for me, should be a Haitiano-Haitian agenda and it is a proposal that I will do in Parliament in my general policy statement. I want to talk with them so that together, with the Parliament, we can arrive to a program that is consistent and who will do that programs are realized for Haiti."

Following this declaration, Mr Rouzier gave an interview to the Associated Press, in which he had described the Commission of "dysfunctional", clarifying his thought "What I can tell you is that the (commission) as it exists today will not continue [...] I don't mean to crucify the people who came up with the concept. But sometimes when something doesn't work you have to fix it", concerning Clintom he declared "When you have someone of Clinton's caliber — this is a man of tremendous vision we have to "pick" his brain [?] and make sure that we have the right strategy."

Overall Rouzier has never spoke of suppression but of change, change of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission toward an Agency of the Reconstruction.

Bellerive, however, asserted that Martelly has confirmed "clearly" his intention to further improve the functioning of the IHRC, to provide better performance in terms of disbursement of funds, greater alignment with government priorities and a greater responsibility of Haitian authorities in the management of reconstruction projects.

To conclude, Jean-Max Bellerive said that "It's to the Government to reach an agreement with Parliament on the future of the commission after the end of its current term in October 2011"

Then yesterday, a press release issued by the Communication Office of the President indicates that "the President of the Republic, Joseph Michel Martelly, and the Prime Minister designate, Mr Daniel-Gérard Rouzier, wish to inform the public that they are very open and willing to begin discussions with former U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton and the international community regarding the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), so as to make it more efficient the reconstruction efforts in Haiti."

HL/ HaitiLibre