Felix Pierre, president of the Union of Electricity Employees of Haiti (EDH), urged Prime Minister Alix Didier and the interim president of the Transitional Presidential Council, Laurent Saint-Cyr, to make this issue a priority.

On June 17, residents of Mirebalais forced the closure of the Péligre power plant for the second time, demanding that the government strengthen security to end the terror and gang occupation in the area.

To make their displeasure more noticeable, some residents sabotaged five towers of the EDH’s 115,000-volt high-voltage line, which supplies the metropolitan area and the capital.

The government promised to assess the damage and begin the necessary repairs, but it only showed its inaction, according to the online newspaper Haiti Libre.

The repairs could take six months, as the equipment to carry out the work must be brought in from abroad.

Currently, the private company E-Power is feeding 26 megawatts of rotating electricity into the grid, insufficient generation for Port-au-Prince.

The population accuses state authorities of being complicit in the gangs, and this argument fuels popular anger.

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