Port-au-Prince residents have been forced to search desperately for diesel and gasoline after more than two weeks of fuel deliveries being interrupted by gang blocksades. These fuels are used extensively to power generators to offset the country’s unstable electrical system.
Martissant, La Saline, and Cite Soliel are the main fuel terminals in the city. Some gangs have demanded extortion payments to let fuel trucks through.
In Haiti, the gangs are a major force. A gang kidnapped 17 missionaries from the United States and demanded $1 million for their release. They threatened to kill them if they don’t pay. Their fate is unknown at this time.
The gangs also kidnapped hundreds more Haitians and the government seems unable or unwilling to take them on.
Saturday saw protests in the Delmas area, where fuel stations had run out of fuel. The police arrived and dispersed the protestors with warning shots that appeared to be live rounds.
Due to a shortage of fuel for cell tower equipment, some cellphone networks in the country experienced service drops.
Officials at Saint Damien hospital in the capital, which is the city’s most renowned pediatrics center, stated that they had three days left of fuel to run generators that power medical equipment and ventilators. Although the hospital can be powered partially by solar power, it doesn’t have enough electricity to meet all its electrical needs.
Denso Gay is the hospital’s project manager. He said that Saint Damien is currently treating two COVID-19 patients and that he also handles urgent surgeries like C-sections.
Gay stated, “I am very concerned.” “The situation has become very dire.”
“The oxygen runs on electricity. He said that if we don’t have enough electricity to power the oxygen and (medical) apparatus, then we will have to close the doors to any new patients.
Gay believes that the 1,500 gallons remaining in the hospital’s reserves tanks of fuel would only last for three days.
The hospital receives approximately 3,000 gallons fuel deliveries twice per month.
Gay stated that Gay contacted the company and was told they could not deliver. They also said they couldn’t come across the town due to danger to drivers.
Sunday’s warning from the United Nations Children’s Fund was that hundreds of children and women who need emergency care in hospitals are at risk of death if there are no solutions to the fuel shortage in Haiti.
According to UNICEF, several hospitals in the country had sent pleas for assistance directly to UNICEF or its partners.
“With the insecurity in Port-au-Prince many child-bearing mothers and newborn babies are at risk because hospitals that could provide life-saving care can’t operate properly due to lack of fuel. Raoul de Torcy (UNICEF Deputy Representative) said that they risk dying if they are not provided with adequate health care.
UNICEF claimed that it had signed a contract to provide fuel for 10,000 gallons to hospitals in Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas. “But, due to insecurity the provider ultimately declared that he could not transport fuel in Haitian capital or in other provinces… because many truck drivers refuse to travel the roads through gang-controlled areas in fear of being kidnapped or their truck stolen.
Residents of the capital were in desperate search for fuel. Many gas stations are still closed for days, and Digicel Haiti’s CEO announced last week that 150 out of 1,500 of its branches in Haiti were running out of diesel.
On Thursday, hundreds blocked roads in Port-au-Prince and set fire to tires to protest fuel scarcity and increased insecurity.
Alexandre Simon, a French and English teacher, stated that he was protesting the terrible conditions faced by Haitians.
He said, “There are many people who can’t eat.” “There is no work… There are many things we don’t have.
