🔴 Stanley Lucas ak Cyrus Sibert LIVE ( Dimanche 12 Juin 2022)

My report for the month of June 2022 on COVID-19 and the general situation in Haiti.- (Cyrus Sibert)

PORT AU PRINCE, JUNE 1, 2022 (MIC) -

Haiti’s continuing political turmoil, weakened official institutions, and exponential growth in criminal violence are among the main factors cited as being responsible for the country’s turbulent embrace of the COVID-19 challenge.

At the heart of all of this, some claim, is the country’s disturbing record on human rights. A May 2020 report of the National Network for the Defence of Human Rights (RNDDH), for instance, mentions poor prison conditions, including the plight of prison officers and other staff.“

Incarcerated people live in inhuman and degrading conditions, in spaces cramped, unventilated, dirty and repulsive. The promiscuity in which these people live makes them more vulnerable in front of COVID-19,” the RNDDH concludes.

There have also been questions surrounding the allocation of both domestic and external funding to address needs that have arisen out of the country’s pandemic measures including restrictions on movement and business closures .

By the start of May, a succession of spikes (the highest being recorded in January 2022) had claimed 835 lives and accounted for close to 31,781 confirmed cases.

These are statistics widely suspected to be influenced by a mix of official sloth leading to poor data gathering and a pervasive view, including among the country’s leadership, that Haiti may have escaped the worst early effects of the virus when compared globally.

Official statistics point to a 96.4% survival rate despite the fact that, with 125,323 people being fully vaccinated (two doses), the country ranks as the country with the lowest vaccinate rate in the Americas at 0.6% of the vaccinable population.

On April 14, the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) advised the general population, and the airline industry, that mask-wearing is optional outdoors but remained mandatory indoors in closed and air-conditioned environments.

“Mask wearing”: Translation: It is an obligation to wear a mask in a closed room or air conditioner.

Hand washing remained in effect to access public and private institutions and private companies. Social distancing guidelines were clearly defined and vaccination requirements have been imposed for incoming airline passengers.

It has been difficult to determine actual state expenditure on pandemic measures and attempts to interview officials and secure documentation have been unsuccessful.However, state actions since 2020 have included: declaration of a health emergency; the closure of schools, industrial parks and places of worship; and a shutdown, at one stage, of international transportation. 

There have also been curfews, establishment of a Scientific Council to advise the government on pandemic measures and the strengthening of cooperation with the adjoining Dominican Republic including controls on the land border. 

Haiti Ministers:  No masks in evidence as the Minister of Health meets with his team. (Credit photo: Facebook page of the Ministry of Health MSPP)

Masks have also been supplied from a number of sources and include an order of 18.5 million masks from Haitian companies with accompanying tax reliefs and authorisation to resume their activities. 

Some medical supplies were produced locally, and food support was extended to some neighbourhoods. An additional 60,000 helpers for the medical system were hired. Financial support was also extended to 100,000 teachers and university professors. 

International aid included a contribution of 100,000 masks and seven thermal cameras from Taiwan and US$16.1 Millions in financial support from the United States.

China chipped in with a donation of 21 oxygen generators and 136 artificial respirators. India also made several contributions.

By June 23, 2020, 26 COVID-19 care sites had been set up. The Association of Haitian Pharmacists also produced more than 94,754 litres of alcohol-based liquids (hand sanitiser) and assisted with the distribution of close to 23 million masks. State interventions have, however come in for strident criticisms from some quarters. The Centre for Analysis and Research on Human Rights” (CARDH), for example, summarised the operations of the government as being in “violation of the principles of human rights and (an example of) bad governance.”

The organisation criticised the arbitrary release of prisoners under the pretext of the “decongestion” of the prison system. There were also the arrests of numerous journalists and other media workers for breach of curfew regulations. CARDH has also pointed to what it has described as “a lack of results for the funds disbursed.” As an example, the organisation analysed a contract signed with the company Bowang Co. Ltd/ChinaXuXia for the acquisition of sanitary materials in China.

It concluded that the transaction was executed “in violation of the laws on public procurement.” CARDH has argued that the contract was in contravention of public procurement laws. 

It has claimed that the National Public Procurement Commission had been unaware of the transaction. Also, despite the existence of the Commercial Representative of China in Haiti, the administration of Jovenel Moïse hired an intermediary company for the disbursement of 18 million dollars without guarantee. 

As evidence, CARDH provided a bank account which received the money transferred to the Chinese firm.The last public accounting for COVID-19 financing also dates back to January 2021. Mention was made then of several contracts executed by the government.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry

It also detailed expenditure to offset subsidies extended by the Ministries of Education, Environment, Public Health and Public Works, subsidies to the National Police, the Waste Management Service (SNCRS), Economic and Social Assistance (FAES) for food support, worker subsidies, and cash transfer by mobile phone to families in difficulty. 

There have also been grants for non-public schools; the purchase of sanitary products, cleaning tools, water, awareness materials, fuel, medical and sanitary materials and equipment, transport; purchase of masks, and salaries.

The 2021 report also said that 319,959 households had, up to then, benefited from transfers from the government. Questions about the distribution of contracts however lingered. In September 2021, the government decided to revise the national budget. As justification, the Ministry of Finance cited “a tense socio-political climate and an economic situation marked by the effects of repetitive crises exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, structural deficiency highlighted by the Covid-19 health crisis and situations of internal unrest.”

The government says it has prepared a Post Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan (PREPOC 2020-2023) for the next 3 years, with the objective of stabilisation and economic recovery. 

The revised budget pointed to a difficult macroeconomic outlook, declining trade, lower tax revenues compared to fiscal year 2018-2019, significant slowdown in economic activity, and fluctuations in the exchange rate.’ Included in the measures announced was a “cash transfer programme (CASH)” to vulnerable households and a “project to combat food insecurity.”The budget document also pointed to a US$5,404,287.60 donation from the IDB, and a US$1,097,738.78, transfer from the World Bank. 

The World Bank also contributed US$ 3,728,958.45 toward the creation of a “primary health care network in areas of difficult access.” (Note, there will be minor variations in exchange rate calculations). No expenditure report for these funds has, however, been made publicly available by the Ministry of Finance. In a May 10 speech at a meeting with businessmen, the Minister of Finance Patrick Boivert also announced a new budget to “address social, security and reconstruction of the southern peninsula devastated by the earthquake of August 14, 2021.” There was no mention of COVID-19.

Haitian officials all appear to be operating in post-COVID-19 mode. With the low rates of infections, hospitalisations and deaths recorded by state institutions, and in an atmosphere of scepticism on the part of the population, little attention is being paid to the performance of health care institutions. 

The suspension of parliament has meant there has been little, informed public debate on the subject. There is however a view that the pandemic has brought additional funds into the state coffers that have not been subject to a high level of scrutiny. In the meantime, the situation for most citizens has worsened considerably over the past two years. There is double-digit inflation -- 27.3%) and rising –- and the incessant fall of the national currency against the dollar, in a country that imports almost everything. The consequence has been exorbitant price increases on most necessities.

Some agencies have reported food crises in selected communities with one in three people reliant on food aid, and a lack of access to drinking water and adequate sanitation. 

The virtual shutdown of tourist activities due to rising violence linked to the political crisis has added to the woes. 

Back in 2020, Dominique Dupuy, an entrepreneur in the Haitian tourism sector, explained, during a webinar that many hotel owners were threatened with bankruptcy because of the bank loans to be paid in the context of a complete cessation of activities. There has also been precious little from the current Ariel Henry administration regarding public policy interventions to combat the prohibitive cost of living. 

The government has accordingly been the focus of sharp public reaction against a series of austerity measures including the suspension of gas subsidies. The worsening situation is said to contribute to an environment conducive to delinquency, banditry and therefore the multiplication and success of gangs. 

As a consequence, the informal sector of the economy which represents the survival space of the poorest is being paralysed by insecurity. 

Residents and businesses in several neighbourhoods are forced to take refuge elsewhere. This is the case in the area of Martissant and Croix des Bouquets (South and North entrances of the capital). This area has been occupied by armed gangs who have been kidnapping, extorting, looting, raping and killing for several months. This prevents the movement of goods and foodstuffs between provincial towns and the Haitian capital. In 2021, some 102,448 people were recorded as being internally displaced. Among them, 44,450 refugees were deported to Haiti and 58,000 displaced inside the country due to heightened insecurity (19,000) and following the earthquake in the South (39,000). With the consequences of the war in Ukraine on the world economy, the rising price of cereals, basic products for the poor the situation does not appear set to improve. In March, the economic growth was registered at -1.8% with population growth of 1.34% according to the report of the IHSI (Haitian Institute of Statistics). 

Also, the IHSI registered a 36.2% year-on-year increase in imports compared against 20.2% for local products. None of the country’s geographical regions has escaped the pangs of skyrocketing inflation. The “post-pandemic” period, if it does exist, does not offer much optimism.

https://www.mediainstituteofthecaribbean.com/haiti