Tag: Port-au-Prince

Tropical Storm Melissa brings heavy rain and a flood risk to Haiti, Dominican Republic and Jamaica

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Tropical Storm Melissa began dumping heavy rain on Hispaniola on Tuesday as forecasters warned of a significant flood risk in parts of the Caribbean region later this week.The rains snarled traffic in the Dominican Republic’s capital, Santo Domingo, and at least one traffic light was downed as winds whipped around the city. Games in the country’s professional baseball league were canceled.People in Haiti grew concerned over the possibility of heavy flooding, which has devastated the country during past storms, given widespread erosion.Melissa was about 325 miles south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph as of Tuesday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was moving west at 13 mph.A hurricane watch was issued for southern Haiti, while a tropical storm watch was in effect for Jamaica.Five to 10 inches (12-25 centimeters) of rain was possible in southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic through Friday, with several inches also expected in Jamaica. Heavy rain was also forecast for northern areas of Hispaniola, Aruba and Puerto Rico.More heavy rain was possible past Friday, and there was a significant risk of flash flooding and landslides. Melissa was forecast to gain strength gradually, but the U.S. forecasters warned that its track and forward movement were uncertain, and people in the region should remain alert.

MIAMI —

Tropical Storm Melissa began dumping heavy rain on Hispaniola on Tuesday as forecasters warned of a significant flood risk in parts of the Caribbean region later this week.

The rains snarled traffic in the Dominican Republic’s capital, Santo Domingo, and at least one traffic light was downed as winds whipped around the city. Games in the country’s professional baseball league were canceled.

People in Haiti grew concerned over the possibility of heavy flooding, which has devastated the country during past storms, given widespread erosion.

Melissa was about 325 miles south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph as of Tuesday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was moving west at 13 mph.

A hurricane watch was issued for southern Haiti, while a tropical storm watch was in effect for Jamaica.

Five to 10 inches (12-25 centimeters) of rain was possible in southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic through Friday, with several inches also expected in Jamaica. Heavy rain was also forecast for northern areas of Hispaniola, Aruba and Puerto Rico.

More heavy rain was possible past Friday, and there was a significant risk of flash flooding and landslides. Melissa was forecast to gain strength gradually, but the U.S. forecasters warned that its track and forward movement were uncertain, and people in the region should remain alert.

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October 21, 2025
Gas stations in Haiti reopen for 1st time in 2 months

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Whoops of excitement echoed through the streets of Port-au-Prince early Saturday as gas stations opened across Haiti for the first time in two months after a powerful gang lifted a crippling fuel blockade.

“There’s gas now! There’s gas now!,” people yelled as they honked their horns and motorcycles zoomed past as Haiti’s capital slowly returned to its familiar cacophony.

Sweat rolled down people’s brows as they pushed their cars and motorcycles to the nearest gas station and lined up next to colorful mini buses known as “tap taps” emblazoned with messages including “Thank you Jesus.”

“I would call this the day that life begins again,” said Davidson Jean-Pierre, 35, who owns a small house-painting business.

He and his employees could finally get around Haiti with ladders and other bulky equipment that couldn’t be easily transported on the handful of motorcycles that remained in circulation during the blockade.

“My team is going to get back on their feet,” Jean-Pierre said.

Ever since a gang federation known as G9 seized control of an area surrounding a key fuel terminal in mid-September, life in Haiti became paralyzed, leaving millions of people like Jean-Pierre temporarily out of work.

The move — aimed at trying to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry after he announced a rise in gas prices — forced gas stations to close, hospitals to cut back on critical services and businesses including banks and grocery stores to limit their hours. It also worsened a cholera outbreak that has killed dozens and sickened thousands, with companies unable to distribute potable water.

Earlier this week, nearly 400 trucks lined up at the newly freed Varreux terminal in Port-au-Prince, filling up their tanks with fuel as a heavily armed police convoy escorted them to gas stations in the capital and beyond.

The truck drivers arrived after the G9 gang, led by former police officer Jimmy Cherizier — nicknamed “Barbecue” — announced a week ago that it was lifting the blockade days after clashing with police who sought to reassert control of the area.

While the truck drivers distributed 1.9 million gallons of diesel and 1.2 million gallons of gasoline, many on Saturday worried the fuel would soon run out as they waited for hours in line under a harsh sun.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to last,” said Arnel Fildor, 28, who also was concerned about high gas prices and a crushing economic crisis driven by double-digit inflation that has pushed this country of more than 11 million people into even deeper poverty. “Not everyone is equal. We don’t have the same ability to survive. We’re all dying slowly here.”

During the blockade, a rare gallon of gas on the black market was going for a minimum of 4,000 Haitian gourdes ($30), a price that Jean-Pierre refused to pay, worried it might have been mixed with other liquids.

On Saturday, he planned to buy gallons of water and fill up his propane gas tank, basic errands that were impossible during the blockade.

Meanwhile, tap tap drivers like Marc André, 40, said that while it was a relief gas stations reopened, they worried about high fuel prices and its impact on their livelihoods, with passengers unable to pay the full fare.

“They raised the gas at the wrong time, when the economy is not functioning,” he said. “It’s going to be pretty hard on the people who don’t have anything. The gasoline looks like a savior, but at the same time, it’s going to bring hardship for a lot of people.”

In mid-September, the prime minister announced that his administration could no longer afford to heavily subsidize fuel. As a result, a gallon of gasoline increased from 250 gourdes ($2) to 570 gourdes ($4.78), diesel from 353 gourdes ($3) to 670 gourdes ($5.60) and kerosene from 352 gourdes ($3) to 665 gourdes ($5.57) in a country where about 60% of the population earns less than $2 a day.

Tap tap driver Jean Joël Destin, 39, said the government doesn’t understand what he has to endure to make a living in Haiti.

“You don’t have anyone to turn to,” he said.

___

Associated Press writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.

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November 13, 2022
Haiti gang leader to lift fuel blockade amid shortages

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A powerful gang leader announced Sunday that he was lifting a blockade at a key fuel terminal that has strangled Haiti’s capital for nearly two months.

The announcement by Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer nicknamed “Barbecue,” followed government claims of at least some success in efforts to reclaim the terminal, as well as a United Nations resolution targeting Cherizier with sanctions. But it remained unclear who actually controls the terminal and the surrounding area, and there had been no evidence that any fuel had been able to leave.

In a speech posted on social media, Cherizier called on truck drivers to come and fill their tanks.

“Drivers can come to the terminal without any fear,” he said.

If fuel can leave, that would ease a crisis that began when Cherizier’s G9 gang federation seized control of the area surrounding a fuel depot in Port-au-Prince on Sept. 12 to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The gang’s blockade cut off access to about 10 millions gallons of diesel and gasoline and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene, forcing gas stations to close, hospitals to cut back on critical services and banks and grocery stores to operate on a limited schedule.

It also hindered efforts to cope with a cholera outbreak that has killed dozens and sickened thousands. Clinics have warned they were running out of fuel and had difficulty accessing potable water.

Gunfire echoed from the area around the terminal on Thursday as Haiti’s National Police fought to reassert control. Police Chief Frantz Elbé said in a voicemail shared with The Associated Press on Friday: “We won a fight, but it is not over.”

Official police social media accounts posted a video on Sunday with no sound stating officers were still “busy” at the terminal and saying “an important provision is taken to secure the perimeters.”

Cherizier stressed that neither the gang nor anyone working on its behalf has negotiated anything with the prime minister, despite claims by some politicians to have done so.

“This is a fight for a better life,” he said of the gang’s actions. “The situation has worsened. … We are not responsible for what happened to the country.”

Cherizier then asked whether Haitians are happy with their living conditions, whether they feel safe, whether their children can go to school without being kidnapped and whether they have food and medical care.

Many in the country of more than 11 million people are living in even deeper poverty at a time of double-digit inflation. Meanwhile, kidnappings and gang violence has increased following the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

Spokespeople for Haiti’s National Police and the office of the prime minister could not be immediately reached for comment following Cherizier’s announcement.

But some people on social media celebrated Cherizier’s announcement, referring to him as “Father” or “Mr. President.”

In early September, Henry announced his administration could no longer afford to subsidize petroleum, leading to sharp increases in prices that unleashed large protests.

On Oct. 7, almost a month after the blockade began, Henry requested the immediate deployment of foreign troops. The U.N. Security Council has yet to vote on the request, though it voted to impose sanctions on the gang leader himself.

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Associated Press writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.

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November 6, 2022
US, Canada send armored vehicles to bolster Haiti’s police

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. and Canada sent armored vehicles and other supplies to Haiti on Sunday to help police fight a powerful gang amid a pending request from the Haitian government for the immediate deployment of foreign troops.

A U.S. State Department statement said the equipment was bought by Haiti’s government, but it did not provide further details on the supplies flown on military aircraft to the capital of Port-au-Prince.

A spokesman for the U.S. military’s Southern Command said he could not provide further details on the supplies sent, though he added it was a joint operation involving the U.S. Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force.

“This equipment will assist (Haiti’s National Police) in their fight against criminal actors who are fomenting violence and disrupting the flow of critically-needed humanitarian assistance, hindering efforts to halt the spread of cholera,” the State Department said.

The equipment arrived more than a month after one of Haiti’s most powerful gangs surrounded a fuel terminal and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Demonstrators also have blocked roads in major cities to protest a sharp rise in fuel prices after Henry announced in early September that his administration could no longer afford to subsidize fuel.

Since then, gas stations have closed, hospitals have cut back on services and banks and grocery stores open on a limited basis as fuel, water and other supplies dwindle across Haiti.

The owners of the fuel terminal announced Saturday that armed men had attacked their installations for a second time and fled with more than 28,000 gallons of petroleum products after overpowering surveillance and emergency personnel at the facility.

It was the second time this week that armed men broke into the terminal, which stores more than 10 million gallons of gasoline and diesel and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene.

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October 15, 2022
New report: A record 4.7 million Haitians face acute hunger

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UNITED NATIONS — A record 4.7 million people in Haiti are facing acute hunger, including 19,000 in catastrophic famine conditions for the first time, all in a slum controlled by gangs in the capital, according to a report released Friday.

The U.N. World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization said unrelenting crises have trapped Haitians “in a cycle of growing desperation, without access to food, fuel, markets, jobs and public services, bringing the country to a standstill.”

The Cite Soleil district of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where violence has increased as armed gangs vye for control, is facing the most urgent need of humanitarian assistance, they said.

The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which is a global partnership of 15 U.N. agencies and international humanitarian groups, paints a grim picture of escalating hunger in Latin the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country,

The partnership uses five categories of food security, from Phase 1 in which people have enough to eat to Phase 5 in which households have an extreme lack of food and face famine, starvation, death and destitution. The 19,000 people in Cite Soleil are now in the latter group, the report said.

According to the analysis, a record 4.7 million Haitians are in the three worst categories — 2.9 million in “crisis” Phase 3 characterized by gaps in food consumption and acute malnutrition, 1.8 million in “emergency” Phase 4 in which there are large gaps in food consumption, very high acute malnutrition and excess deaths, and 19,000 in “famine” Phase 5.

The report said food security has also continued to deteriorate in Haiti’s rural areas, with several dropping from the “crisis” phase into the “emergency” phase.

The World Food Program and the Food and Argiculture Organization said food insecurity has increased over the past three years and 65% of Haitians “are in high levels of food insecurity with 5% of them in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.”

Haiti has been gripped by inflation and political gridlock that have exacerbated protests and brought society to the breaking point.

Daily life in the country began to spin out of control last month just hours after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing prices to double. Rising prices have put food and fuel out of reach of many Haitians, clean water is scarce, and the country is trying to deal with a cholera outbreak.

“Harvest losses due to below average rainfall and last year’s earthquake that devastated parts of the country’s south are among the shocks that worsened conditions for people,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.

He said violence, unrest and tensions in Cite Soleil have limited access by humanitarian workers to the district.

“So, we don’t know necessarily how bad it’s getting, although it’s very clear it’s very bad, indeed. And we need to get access to people; we need to make sure that we can get food to people,” he said.

The World Food Program is seeking $105 million for the next six months, while the Food and Agriculture Organization said it urgently needs some $33 million.

Jean-Martin Bauer, country director in Haiti for the World Food Program, said, “We all need to be steadfast and focus on delivering urgent humanitarian assistance and supporting long-term development.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s representative in Haiti, Jose Luis Fernandez Filgueiras, said, “We need to help Haitians produce better, more nutritious food to safeguard their livelihoods and their futures.”

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October 14, 2022