Prime Minister Andrew Holness has confirmed that Jamaica is prepared to send soldiers to Haiti as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force.

Addressing a media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister Thursday morning, Holness said Jamaica has always made it clear that it is ready to play its part in restoring peace and stability in the violence-plagued country.

“We said this when we spoke in Parliament, we have said it before and yes we are the first to say so,” declared Holness.

“In fact, you could say that Jamaica’s statement would have started an interest in the situation there,” added Holness.

The African nation of Kenya has already offered to send a thousand police officers to Haiti and lead a multi-national effort to support the Haitian police.

In addition, the United States has indicated that although it does not want to lead a force, it will support this move.

The US has written a resolution that has been before the United Nations Security Council now for about nine months calling for a multi-national force to be deployed to that country.

This came after the Haitian Government requested international help and a specialised force to enter the country to help the Haitian National Police.

Haiti is in the grips of a ravaging hunger crisis, where nearly five million Haitians – half of the country – do not get enough to eat daily.

Nearly two million people are in what the World Food Programme calls IPC 4 – Emergency. This is its second-worst hunger classification, marked by acute malnutrition and excess mortality, just one step shy of famine and starvation.

The country has been in turmoil since the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

In the absence of a functioning State, gangs have filled the void with the capital Port-au-Prince being the centre of a horrific turf war in which there have been prolific kidnappings, many civilian deaths, and gang-rape of elderly people and children.

Supplies of food and fuel have also been disrupted by the gangsters.