Above: the talks in Haiti (Photo: OP Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti President Michel Martelly held talks with Turks and Caicos Islands Governor Ric Todd during the latter’s visit to Haiti this week.

The meeting, described in a Turks and Caicos government statement as “warm, friendly and constructive,” focused on ways to deter and combat illegal migration from Haiti to the Turks and Caicos.

“This was a valuable visit, building on a series of contacts between Haiti and TCI in the recent past,” Todd said. “That President Martelly and three senior Ministers met the TCI team is  clear evidence of the importance that they attach to the relationship between TCI and Haiti and their desire to deepen co-operation.”

Todd’s visit came alongside a visit to Haiti by a Turks and Caicos Islands business delegation led by Deputy Premier Akierra Missick.

Todd and Minister of Border Control and Labour Don-Hue Gardiner will present a report on the visit to Cabinet on Aug. 21.

The Governor said Haiti “understood our concerns.”

“Both sides stressed their commitment to working together, not only in combating illegal migration but equally in building a broader, deeper and mutually valuable relationship between TCI and Haiti,” he said.

Gardiner said he was “encouraged by the understanding we found for the issues TCI faces and the Haitian commitment, led by the President, to working with us.”