Frustration mounts at Haiti’s gas shortage

By Emmanuel — April 24, 2010 | 2 comments

Port-au-Prince – The gasoline situation has been blowing up in Haiti since last Tuesday. The distributors say the stations haven’t ordered on time, the stations say they’re not delivering the gas on time. People seem to be get more frustrated just talking about the situation than living through it themselves.

Even police patrol cars, bank vans, and big organizations haven’t been able to escape the gas shortage. Police officers are often around the lineups to get gas for themselves:

But they are also showing their presence to “protect and serve”, as it is their motto.

Electricity shortages have become worse since the gas situation began. Some cybers [internet cafes] have had close their doors due to the lack of electricity. Some areas near Pétion-Ville have less than 6 hours of electricity every 24 hours.

Back in the gasoline lineups, many of the car owners were obliged to take their gasoline by the gallon:

And then transport it back to their vehicles by hand:

It’s easier to queue on foot than in vehicles, which causes big traffic jams around the stations.

One young biker that I spoke with, Evens Charles, blamed the government for the shortage and said they must take responsibility for it.

I was at the Pétion-Ville SOL gas station last Saturday afternoon, when a big gas truck pulled up. A worker at the station confirmed that this was not the usual gas delivery, but a special order made by the SOL stations from the Dominican Republic.

But even after that huge effort made by the SOL gas station, the lineups have still lasted until today, and people are still waiting for the gas availability to go back like it was before.

In Port-au-Prince today, you can watch people waiting from morning till night at gas stations, thinking that the the gas may finally come at any time, so you have to always be there. But nobody, from the stations to the police to the government, can confirm when the gas is coming, and so the frustration continues.

Port-au-Prince student, fixer and researcher Emmanuel Midi is blogs weekly for Inside Disaster from Haiti. You can learn more about him in these blog posts, connect with him on Facebook or through his business, Haiti Fixers.

Emmanuel volunteers with the youth organization Fonds D’Actions pour le Développement (FAD), profiled by Nicolas Jolliet last month.

Tags: Emmanuel Midi Featured Gasoline Logistics Port au Prince Transportation