In the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake that devastated the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, Guyana’s National Committee for Haiti Relief will be sending more assistance to the island as the committee’s donations topped $261M on Friday, GINA reported.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security and Chairperson of the National Committee for Haiti Relief Priya Manickchand updated the media on the committee’s status on Friday during another donation exercise convened at the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) office, Thomas Lands.

She said, GINA reported, that in addition to the 10 containers that left John Fernandes Wharf on February 4, five more containers which include foodstuff and clothing will be leaving Guyana for Haiti on Tuesday. The items for shipment include rice, other food items, clothing and water.

The minister noted that the committee will continue its work to aid Haiti as long as the island needs it.

The Relief Committee currently has approximately $261,374,104 in its account at Republic Bank and according to Manickchand, in addition to actual cash persons have donated in excess of $45M in kind so far.

Meanwhile, at Friday’s ceremony the committee received donations from the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company – $2.5M, MP Insurance Broker and Consulting firm – $100,000, RK’s Security Service- $250,000, N&S Mattai- $200,000 in food items and the Guyana Forestry Commission – $106,000.

The human services minister thanked the contributors for their generosity and encouraged others to contribute to the worthy cause, GINA added.