Above: Port-au-Prince (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Taiwan is launching a disaster mitigation project in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, in partnership with the Pan-American Development Foundation.

The six-month project will examine weaknesses in the environment in both countries which represent “imminent threats to the people of the community,” according to a PADF release.

The project will map vulnerable communities using handheld GPS and develop a series of preventive measures to mitigate risk and prevent damage on an island particularly vulnerable to natural disasters.

Taiwan first established a $2.5 million PADF fund in December 2012 as part of a five-year regional disaster assistance and reconstruction programme.

Facing the global climate change issue, Taiwan, as a provider of humanitarian aid, is glad to collaborate with PADF to help the Haitian Government’s efforts in the fields of disaster prevention,” said Bang-zyh Liu, Taiwan’s Ambassador to Haiti.

Taiwan has funded several projects in Haiti in recent years, including a project to restore water access in 2009 and a $300,000 grant for earthquake relief in 2010.

“PADF will build on its existing programs and extensive networks in the region to implement critical supports in a zone that is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes and other natural disasters,” said Nadia Cherrouk, Country Director for PADF in Haiti. “We are very proud of the opportunity to continue collaborating with Taiwan in helping and supporting communities who are vulnerable.”