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Haiti officials to lose perks in PM’s response to violent unrest
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Government officials in Haiti,
one of the world’s poorest countries, will lose their perks under emergency
economic and anti-corruption measures announced Saturday by Prime Minister
Jean-Henry Ceant after days of deadly protests.
The unrest is the latest upsurge of discontent over corruption and poverty
in the Caribbean half-island, where protesters want the ouster of President
Jovenel Moise.
At least seven people have died in Haiti since February 7 when the latest
protests began.
“The first decision is to cut the prime minister’s budget by 30 percent,”
Ceant said in a 20-minute address which suggested the presidency and
parliament take similar measures.
“We also need to withdraw all unnecessary privileges for high-level
government officials, like allowances for gas and telephones, needless trips
abroad, and the amount of consultants,” he said on state television.
Three-fifths of Haiti’s population of nearly 11 million live below the
poverty line of $2 a day.
Ceant said there will be a focus on the fight against corruption and
cross-border smuggling, while meetings with the private sector will be held
to consider raising the minimum wage.
Protests have grown since a sporadic movement began last summer over a
scandal linked to a Venezuelan aid program known as Petrocaribe.
Through Petrocaribe, Venezuela for years supplied Haiti and other
countries with oil at cut-rate prices and on easy credit terms.
Investigations by the Haitian Senate in 2016 and 2017 concluded that
nearly $2 billion from the program was misused.
After at least three people were killed by gunfire during protests in late
November, Ceant promised a crash program to create jobs in poor
neighborhoods, and assured that he was hearing the complaints of young
Haitians.
His comments Saturday came after Moise on Thursday broke his silence
during the latest unrest, by saying he “will not leave the country in the
hands of armed gangs and drug traffickers.”
Canada, one of Haiti’s largest international donors, on Thursday
temporarily closed its embassy because of “the current volatility,” while the
State Department in Washington ordered the departure of all “non-emergency US
personnel.”
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1525 hrs