PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Government officials in Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries, will lose their perks under emergency economic and anti-corruption measures announced by Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant after days of deadly protests.
At least seven people have died in Haiti since Feb 7 when the latest protests began.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Ceant said in a 20-minute address that the government’s first decision has been to “cut the prime minister’s budget by 30 percent,” which suggested the presidency and parliament will 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.
On Sunday, nine days after the riots started, a relative calm returned in Port-Au-Prince.
The demonstrations are the culmination of months of anti-corruption protests over the fate of almost $4bn in missing funds that were earmarked to be used for social development in the country under Venezuela’s social programme, Petrocaribe.
Through Petrocaribe, Venezuela for years supplied several Caribbean countries with oil at cut-rate prices. The arrangement offered Haiti fuel at with a downpayment of 60 percent of the purchase price, and the rest of the cost spread at very low terms of interest over 25 years.
Investigations by the Haitian Senate in 2016 and 2017 concluded that nearly $2bn from the programme was misused.
The investigation called for charges to be brought against two former prime ministers and several cabinet ministers for alleged embezzlement, abuse of authority and forgery.
The prime minister’s announcement to curb government perks came after President Jovenel Moise on Thursday broke his silence after a week of protests and said he would not hand the country over to drug traffickers and that a dialogue was the only way to stop a civil war.
“I, Jovenel Moise, head of state, will not give the country up to armed gangs and drug traffickers,” he said, alluding to government officials who he said reportedly took to the streets along with “heads of gangs wanted by the law.”
He added: “I heard the voice of the people. I know the problems that torment them. That’s why the government has taken many measures. I asked the prime minister to explain them and to apply them without delay to relieve misery.”
Despite international aid Haiti remains the Western Hemisphere’s most impoverished country.
According to the World Bank, about 59 percent of Haiti’s population live below the national poverty line of $2.41 a day, while an estimated 24 percent live in extreme poverty on less than $1.23. — NNN-AGENCIES
