The Regiment could be called in to help rebuild some of Haiti’s shattered infrastructure, it emerged this morning.

Premier Ewart Brown is currently at a CARICOM meeting where the future of Haiti, which was hit by a massive earthquake, and any help that can be given is being discussed.

Last night in a special caucus of Heads of Government of the CARICOM countries, leaders received an update on the situation in Haiti.

Dr. Brown said: “The health focus of CARICOM's support to Haiti has been well received and we are now discussing more long-term assistance. The opportunity to provide Haiti with a building code to minimize the impact of any further natural disasters will not be squandered and together we will provide technical assistance as requested."

Col. Brian Gonsalves, Commanding Officer of the Bermuda Regiment, has just returned from Kingston, Jamaica where the Region's military commanders met to discuss possible roles in the relief effort.

Dr. Brown added: "Having discussed the matter with Minister of Public Safety Col. Burch, we agreed that an eventual role for the Bermuda Regiment might be the rebuilding of certain structures at an appropriate time. The Haitian Foreign Minister told us that 3,700 schools need to be rebuilt. Based on the Regiment's success in Jamaica, Cayman and Grenada, we can see a possible role for our uniformed women and men once the effort has reached this phase."

* Full story in tomorrow’s Royal Gazette.