Worsening fuel shortage in impoverished Haiti

Haiti’s long-suffering population has faced an extra burden for more than a week: closed service stations and lines of motorists hoping to buy even a few drops of petrol during a fuel shortage that’s getting worse.

From the capital Port-au-Prince to smaller towns around the Caribbean country, car drivers and motorcyclists wait in line at the few gas stations still selling fuel, albeit at rising prices.

Haiti is one of the world’s poorest countries which has faced months of political turmoil.

“I have been in this never-ending line for hours,” a driver of one of Port-au-Prince’s ubiquitous motorbike taxis complained. “When the service stations aren’t closed, those that are still selling gasoline are doing it drop by drop.”

The president of the National Association of Petroleum Product Distributors, David Turnier, confirmed to AFP that “there is a scarcity of petroleum products in the local market.”

A gallon (3.8 litres) of gasoline which normally sells for about 224 gourdes (US$2.33) has more than doubled to 500 gourdes (US$5.20) in some areas.

A source close to a prominent petroleum product importing company told AFP there is a cash flow problem.