Additional help is on the way for storm-ravaged Haiti and the Turk and Caicos Islands, as The Bahamas will be contributing half a million dollars to assist with the restoration of those nations following the mass devastation as a result of the recent tropical cyclones.

Hundreds of deaths were reported in Haiti after the country was hit with back-to-back storms several weeks ago, with the most recent being Hurricane Ike. Tens of thousands of Haitians were left stranded without homes, transportation, food supply or medical supplies.

As humanitarian relief efforts continued in Haiti, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told reporters during a briefing at the 63rd United Nations General Assembly in New York, that The Bahamas will be providing $500,000 in financial assistance to storm-weary Haiti. He added that a similar sum will be provided to the Turks and Caicos Islands which were also effected by Hurricane Ike.

In addition to lending financial assistance to Haiti, Ingraham also indicated that with that country experiencing widespread devastation, repatriation of Haitians from The Bahamas will have to be modified, due to Haiti's current infrastructure challenges.

"The Bahamas is going to be providing Haiti with a substantial amount of financial assistance, we are probably going to do so through CARICOM, but the assistance is likely to be in the order of US $500,000. We would be doing a like sum for the Turks and Caicos Islands which has also been devastated," Ingraham said.

"Haiti has been devastated as a result of the hurricanes; which produces substantial challenges for The Bahamas. For instance, the apprehension exercises which the Immigration Department conducts with some regularity will have to be tempered against the reality that in Haiti it is not possible for the Haitian government to provide transportation for people who are sent back from The Bahamas, to places where they live."

Prime Minister Ingraham highlighted the current difficulty in Haiti in getting food and medicine to the communities and its people, because of damaged and destroyed roadways and bridges.

"And so that is a particular sensitivity that we have to balance. On the one hand (is) our desire and need to ensure that persons are not in The Bahamas illegally, and also the reality and the sensitivity of being able to dump people at an airport in Haiti who have no means of getting back to their homes. And of course, we cannot take them to Haiti without the Haitian government's permission, and so if the Haitian government is putting forward points of view about their difficulties and we are insensitive to it, I think you would end up with a situation that is a stalemate," Ingraham said.

During the interview, the prime minister emphasized the "critical importance" of stability, security, economic activity and support for education and healthcare in Haiti.

"What happens in Haiti impacts The Bahamas because the reality is that large numbers of Haitians are either in The Bahamas or continue to come to The Bahamas - that is what happens when people lose hope in their own country and have the need for employment and opportunities, and our geographical nearness to Haiti puts us in that direct path," Ingraham said.

During the prime minister's address to the 63rd United Nations General Assembly last week, he highlighted the impact of this year's hurricane season in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cuba and Haiti, indicating that the condition of Haiti "leaves much to be desired" because of its ongoing political, economic and social problems.

"Therefore, The Bahamas is especially pleased that the United Nations has remained actively engaged in Haiti and hopes that the much-desired improvement of economic conditions in Haiti will soon eventuate. Above all else, Haiti requires the establishment and maintenance of peace and security," he told the world body.

"As the current Chair of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), I am pleased that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been able to contribute to the relief efforts in Haiti, but its needs remain at proportions that can only be addressed by the international community."

BY BIANCA SYMONETTE