PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti - Three months after it was forced to shut down due to deadly gang-violence, Haiti’s international airport re-opened to commercial traffic on Monday bringing in much needed relief supplies for the population.
Haiti’s main international airport re-opens after being forced closed due to gang violenceMonday’s flight into the Toussaint-Louverture airport in the capital of Port-au-Prince, was organised by Haiti’s Sunrise Airways company and while it was the single commercial flight, the authorities are expecting more flights later this week.
Criminal gangs control most of the capital and while the airport re-opened, the country’s main seaport remains paralyzed.
In recent weeks, US military planes have landed at the Port-au-Prince airport with supplies as well as civilian contractors to help Haiti prepare for the arrival of foreign forces expected to help quell the gang violence.
Before Monday, the sole airport operating in Haiti was located in the north coastal city of Cap-Haitien. It was out of reach for many seeking to flee the country, with roads leading from Port-au-Prince controlled by gangs that have opened fire on cars and buses passing through.
The gangs have been carrying out co-ordinated attacks, demanding the resignation of the then Prime Minister Ariel Henry government.
The attacks began on February 29, with gunmen seizing control of police stations, opening fire on the Port-au-Prince airport and storming Haiti’s two biggest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.
The gangs since then have directed their attacks on previously peaceful communities, leaving thousands homeless.
More than 80 people have applied for the post of Prime Minister ahead of the May 17 deadline in keeping with the agreement reached on April 3 this year allowing for the establishment of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) that is tasked with ending the political and socio-economic crisis in the country.
Media reports say that among the candidates are former prime ministers, ministers or general directors, including Anacacis Jean Hector, Garry Conille, Michel Brunache, Gérald Germain, Lucmane Délile, Inel Torchon and Fritz Belizaire.
The CPT has already named Edgar Leblanc Fils, 68, a veteran politician and former president of Haiti’s national assembly, as provisional president.
Haiti is wracked by violence that has escalated to unprecedented levels. In an address to the United Nations Security Council last month, the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Maria Isabel Salvador said “it is impossible to overstate the increase in gang activity across Port-au-Prince and beyond, the deterioration of the human rights situation and the deepening of the humanitarian crisis”.
