New government takes office in Haiti (Roundup)

Nov 12, 2009, 16:28 GMT

   Port-au-Prince - New Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said after he and 18 ministers were sworn into office that he plans to boost economic growth and employment through private initiatives.

   The new government took office late Wednesday in the impoverished Caribbean country, in the presence of Haitian President Rene Preval and of sacked premier Michele Pierre-Louis.

   The Haitian Senate had sacked Pierre-Louis 12 days earlier after less than 14 months in office, charging that he had failed to create a policy to address the country's economic crisis. The Senate also accused the prime minister of not being able to account for 197 million dollars of an emergency aid fund.

   Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

   Bellerive, 59, has served for two decades in a variety of government functions. Upon swearing as prime minister, he acknowledged the 'demanding mission' ahead and promised to fight fraud and tax evasion among other pressing problems.

Bellerive - who has lived in Switzerland, Belgium and France and studied Political Science in Europe - chose to keep 11 of the 18 members of Pierre-Louis' cabinet. The new prime minister himself was to retain the Planning and Foreign Cooperation portfolio that he has held since 2006.

Bellerive is married to a woman from the Dominican Republic - the country that shares with Haiti the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.