THE FOOD CRISIS and general "miserable living conditions" facing the people of Haiti have evoked separate responses from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and Roman Catholic Jesuit Priests working in that impoverished and conflict-prone state.

Yesterday, the Caricom Secretariat was pushing ahead with arrangements to mobilse financial and humanitarian aid for the Haitian people, in consultation with member governments of the Community of which Haiti is a part.

Secretariat officials confirmed that some US$10 million (TT$60 million) are expected to be approved for release from Caricom's Trinidad and Tobago-facilitated Petroleum Fund for a mix of short-term humanitarian assistance as well as enabling agriculture development to boost food production.

Consumer products for immediate use, including rice and sugar from Guyana and other commodities from other Caricom states are being sought for shipment to Haiti.

While a statement is expected shortly from the Secretariat, the community of RC priests working in Haiti, have released a "Declaration" with appeals for urgent humanitarian aid and "appropriate" political/diplomatic responses from Haitian, regional and international authorities, as well as religious and non-government organisations.

In the words of the priests' "Declaration", the "courageous, suffering people of Haiti can take no more...Racked by misery, thousands, many of them youths, are roaming the streets, and expressing their misery in (at times violent) demonstrations...'

The "Declaration" has varying appeals to (a): Those responsible for governance (President Rene Preval's administration) and political responsibilities (ruling and opposition parties) as well as civil society; (b) private sector (merchants, industrialists and bankers); and (d) the international community "especially those countries that are identified as 'friends of Haiti'..."

To the Haitian people themselves, the Jesuit priests, whose work extend to communities across Haiti, including poverty-stricken areas worse affected by the escalating food prices and deteriorating living conditions, the Declaration, bearing the names of the signatories, offered the following appeal:

"People of Haiti, continue to call, to cry out and to summon those you have chosen to serve you. Your strength will be organised and sustained by non-violence. For violence is never effective..."