Haitians demand priority after government spends $3.8M for a brief visit from Colombia's leader
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The money materialized as soon as Colombia’s president confirmed his visit to southern Haiti. The Haitian government invested more than $3.8 million to more than double the runway at the airport in the coastal city of Jacmel, repair its streets, renovate its town hall and restore electricity to a population living in the dark for at least three years.
The speed at which the money materialized and crews overhauled the city left many Haitians stunned in a country whose infrastructure is crumbling and where gang violence has displaced more than one million people. “The government doesn’t have money to remove us from the camp or provide security in the country, but it does have 500 million gourdes to spend on itself for a couple of days?” wondered Antoine Jean-Baptiste.
The 44-year-old unemployed electrician lives in a makeshift shelter like thousands of other Haitians in the capital of Port-au-Prince after gangs razed their neighborhoods. He questioned how much the government spent to fly to Jacmel since driving there is too dangerous because gangs control the main roads leading in and out of Port-au-Prince.
“They can’t pay teachers. Hospitals are closed. Was it necessary to spend all that money for a president that was visiting?” Baptiste asked. On Wednesday evening, Colombian President Gustavo Petro landed on the extended runway and was greeted with a red carpet, armed soldiers and dozens of small Colombian flags flying above the streets that he traveled through to meet with Haitian officials at an upscale hotel.
