HAITI-STRIKE Haitian transport workers resume strike against government-controlled gasoline prices

Record ID: 341983

  • Title: HAITI-STRIKE Haitian transport workers resume strike against government-controlled gasoline prices
  • Date: 9th March 2015
  • Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (MARCH 9, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BURNING TYRES BLOCKING THE STREETS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) STUDENT, JOSEPH JAMES, SAYING: "We support the strike one hundred percent. Even though we have nothing in our hands, we support it. As you can see here in the town of Saint Honore our homes have been destroyed by the government and still today nobody tells us anything." TRANSPORT STATION ALMOST EMPTY VARIOUS OF BUSINESS DISTRICT ALMOST EMPTY
  • Embargoed: 24th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Haiti
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7T1GQGGWGYCBRJRDL7CULCSWM
  • Story Text: The National Platform of Unions Transport Faithful (PNSTF) called a two-day strike across the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince beginning on Monday (March 9), protesting government-controlled gasoline prices in the midst of political and economic crisis.
    After public transport strikes at the start of February, the government lowered fuel prices, reducing gasoline to 195 Haitian gourdes (4.25 U.S. dollars) per gallon from 215 gourdes (4.62 U.S. dollars).
    On resuming the strikes, the unions are calling for a reduction in the price per gallon of gasoline to 100 gourds (2.12 U.S. dollars), 89 gourdes (1.89 U.S. dollars) for diesel and 80 gourdes (1.70 dollars) for kerosene, as was reported by the Haiti Libre news outlet.
    The government has resisted pressure to lower fuel prices as it seeks to raise cash from the sale of gasoline to pay off its mounting fuel debt with Venezuela's preferential PetroCaribe program, which has ballooned to about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.
    The government promised to run a free bus service through the company "Dignite" to allow the public to go about their business whilst 70 percent of public transport in the city has been paralysed. Further roads have been blocked by protesters burning tires.
    "We support the strike one hundred percent. Even though we have nothing in our hands, we support it. As you can see here in the town of Saint Honore our homes have been destroyed by the government and still today nobody tells us anything," student, Joseph James, told Reuters on the first day of the strike.
    The impoverished Caribbean nation is in the midst of a political crisis after the previous prime minister was forced to resign in December and parliament was dissolved in January over the failure to hold municipal and legislative elections leaving Martelly running the country by decree.
    Martelly has faced months of street demonstrations and radical government opponents calling for his removal and decrying high fuel prices.
    Haiti has a long history of convulsive elections and is still recovering from an earthquake five years ago that levelled much of the capital.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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