After an earthquake struck Haiti in January, security and risk management company Pilgrims began providing security and logistical support services to businesses and Haitians in need.
Pilgrims reacted to clients’ needs, providing emergency, humanitarian and evacuation services to the employees and families of clients stranded or in danger. The company also provided security, logistical and medical support services to companies entering Haiti from the news media, NGO and pharmaceutical sectors.
In the immediate aftermath, the situation was desperate as most of the normal security and law enforcement duties carried out by the police and UN in Haiti were stretched to breaking point. Pilgrims organised fixed wing and helicopter flights from Santa Domingo (Dominican Republic) and Miami as part of its efforts to assist clients in accessing and evacuating Haiti.
All the assistance that the firm has provided to their clients within Haiti has been at specially reduced prices against existing framework agreements, emphasising that profiteering from humanitarian disasters is not part of the company’s business practice.
Haiti’s remote location and reputation for being the poorest country in the western hemisphere have compounded to create an ever-changing situation on the ground but the firm reports that it’s well versed in dealing with disasters such as this, with an track record in previous disasters and war zones, such as Hurricane Katrina, Georgia, Lebanon, Indonesia and Haiti itself four years ago.
