Haiti runs out of fuel as gangs block distribution

Armed gangs in Haiti are preventing fuel trucks from accessing and leaving terminals across the country, adding to chaos that erupted after the assasination of President Jovenel Moise in July.

Fuel distribution companies have called a strike, claiming the gangs are endangering their employees.

The gangs are demanding the resignation of Moise's successor Ariel Henry as a condition for allowing fuel distribution to resume.

"Most petrol stations have run out and have shut down," an official of the commerce ministry told Argus, adding that some stations that are open have raised prices ten-fold.

"There is very little traffic on the roads and many commercial and industrial operations have closed because they have no fuel and because workers have been forced to stay home," said petrol station owners' federation Anapross.

Independent power producers and state-owned utility EdH "are getting much less fuel than they need to keep operating," the commerce ministry said.

Haiti produces no oil and has no refinery, and imports products mainly from the US to meet demand of 60,000 b/d, according to official figures.

The main Varreaux fuel terminal and other depots currently have about 250,000 bl that cannot be distributed, state procurement agency BMPAD said.

Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, leader of a gang coalition in the Port-au-Prince told a local radio station that fuel would flow as soon as Henry stepped down.

Henry will not resign, the president's office said.

Haiti's chief prosecutor is seeking charges against Henry for alleged ties to a main suspect in Moise's killing.

UN agency Unicef said it has failed so far to get fuel delivered to hospitals as truckers were unwilling to risk their security. Much of Haiti relies on diesel-powered generators.

Fuel problems are not new to Haiti. The impoverished Caribbean state has witnessed frequent protests over chronic shortages stemming from a lack of hard currency to pay for imports.

The situation worsened in July, as rising fuel prices drove up smuggling of cheaper supply from neighboring Dominican Republic.

Moise's government was accused of corruption tied to the use of about $2bn in credits under Venezuela's now-defunct PetroCaribe oil initiative.

Moise had persistently denied the accusations.

By Canute James