The Haitian Times
www.haitiantimes.com
Members of unions representing the country’s public transportation workers are set to strike yet again on Oct. 25 in protest of the fuel shortages causing gas prices to skyrocket. The unions demand the government take action to rectify the supply problem, as well as improve the overall security situation in the country, local radio station Metropole reported.
The measure, named “fèmen peyi,” or “lock the country,” calls for a total stop to Haiti’s daily activities.
Calls for strikes and protests in response to fuel shortages and kidnappings have grown steadily since the beginning of the month.
Members of the Protestant church organized a strike on Oct. 1 to denounce a recent uptick in violence and kidnappings of pastors during Sunday services. Members of several transportation unions protested Oct. 4 against rising gas prices, while taxi drivers and motorcycle riders did the same on Oct. 21.
The Association of Gas Products Transporters had also threatened to strike in response to increased violence against truck drivers transporting fuel.
Similar protests over corruption in 2019 plunged Haiti into “peyi lòk”, when the country’s establishments closed for months.
