Over 20,000 Haitian Jobs Threatened By Transportation Crisis

On Tuesday, August 25, Andrés Navarro, the Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs has warned that if the conflict between the Government of Haiti and the National Federation of Dominican Transportation (FENATRADO) is not resolved it might aggravate the shortage of food and other goods, which would further worsen the crisis in Haiti. FENATRADO is the largest association of Dominican carriers that represents around 200 unions and 90% of Dominican carriers. We may recall that FENATRADO indefinitely suspended all of its traffic to Haiti from Monday, August 3, 2015, due to the absence of security coverage for its drivers and goods by the Haitian authority.

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The suspension started following an attack on July 25 on their truck owners carrying gypsum from "Mine de la Lista" (Cabral) to the cement plant Cina, located in the Haitian community of Cabaret. A violent mob on the Haitian soil attacked and threw stones and various hard objects that caused heavy damage to the trucks and injured their drivers. Over 20 trucks were heavily damaged and some drivers were taken and admitted to the hospital of Jimani Melenciano for treatment. The damage to trucks amounted to over 100 million pesos, excluding the cost of the goods lost which include cement, rebar, medicines, foods and fabrics intended for the free zones.

As per the statements from the officials of FENATRADO it suggest that the truckers' unions of both the nations are willing for a consensus agreement on the resumption of freight traffic, but the Haitian authority has not shown any interest in providing the needed security. Furthermore, the Korean Embassy in Haiti had sent diplomatic notes to the Haitian government for its intervention, because the suspension has paralyzed the operations of some Korean companies operating in the free zones.

From August 25, the Dominican truckers have hardened their stand barring all Haitian cargo trucks to the D.R. They would allow only Haitian passenger vehicles and motorcycles to enter their country.

As per the estimate of the Free Zone Director of the Lafiteau, the shortage of raw materials (like fabric, thread, buttons, zippers, plastic bags, boxes, cardboard, etc) would curb about 20,000 Haitian jobs, because the production activities in the SONAPI and Caracol Industrial Park accounts for 50% of the 40,000 sector jobs, and that depends on Dominican goods..

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