Gang blockade cripples Haiti fuel supplies, hospitals set to close

Port-au-Prince, Sep 30 (Prensa Latina) Hospitals that rely on fuel-powered generators for electricity in Haiti’s capital have warned they could be forced to close, as a gang blockade on the main fuel terminal in Port-au-Prince worsens insecurity in Haiti.

September 30, 2022
CDT09:51 (GMT) -0400

Published by: Pavel López Lazo

Port-au-Prince gangs earlier this month dug trenches and littered shipping containers at entrances to the Varreux terminal to protest a government announcement that it planned to cut fuel subsidies due to their high cost.

The Varreux terminal currently stores over 4,900,000 gallons of diesel, 816,000 gallons of kerosene and 5,160,000 gallons of gasoline.

Meanwhile, some hospitals have announced health service cutdown and even closure due to inability to stock up.

On Wednesday Jimmy Cherizier, leader of the G-9 Alliance, assured in a video they will continue to blockade because ‘we have nothing to lose’. ‘We have no terminal in Varreux, (industrial park) Shodecosa, APN (National Port Authority), customs, or Parliament.

That means we have nothing to lose. We have no banks or supermarkets,’ said Cherizier, who spearheaded a similar movement in 2021.

Cherizier also encouraged Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign and flee to avoid ‘a bloodbath’, while suggesting Haitian population stay at home next week.

Pll/mem/ane