JAMAICA will be repatriating the 62 Haitian boat people who arrived in two fishing boats on the island's east coast on Tuesday. Daryl Vaz, the Government's chief spokesman, told reporters Thursday at a press briefing at Jamaica House in the nation's capital, Kingston, that plans were being made to have the Haitians sent home within a few weeks.

Three of the 62 Haitians, who are said to be prison escapees, are to be returned to police in their country.

Days after the January 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left a trail of destruction in the impoverished French-speaking Caribbean island, Jamaica had promised to land Haitians fleeing their country and care for them until conditions had improved in their homeland.

However, the Jamaican Government, faced with several economic challenges of its own, is now singing a different song.

Vaz, the Cabinet minister without portfolio with responsibility for information, said Thursday that the country will not be able to host the asylum seekers for any extended period of time.

"Jamaica is facing its challenges like the rest of the world...," Vaz told reporters. He cited financial constraints as one of the reasons for the decision, noting that it would cost Jamaica $9 million to host the Haitians for one week, as well as transportation cost to return them home.

"We are cognisant of all of the challenges people are facing in Haiti, but we have to be responsible in terms of our responsibility to our Jamaican people," said Vaz. "(With) the times and the situation that we are facing, it is difficult for us to continue spending funds that we could be spending here on very essential services."

In the meantime, the Port Antonio Seventh-Day Adventist Church, where the Haitians are now being housed, has agreed to allow the displaced Haitians to stay there for two-and-a-half weeks.