Fuel shortages in Haiti and rising prices trigger demonstrations in the country's capital. Jul. 13, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@nuriapiera

Port-au-Prince, July 15 (RHC)-- According to authorities and the private sector that manages the fuel, Haiti has been suffering from a recurring fuel crisis since the beginning of the year, which has worsened as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

In avenues such as Delmas or Canapé Vert, demonstrators set fire to tire barricades, threw stones on the road and interrupted traffic, while in areas such as Natcom or the Airport Crossing, shots were heard.

Fuel has increased fivefold in price, one of the demonstrators told Sputnik Agency, urging the government to take action.  The demonstrators also decried the insecurity that impedes free movement and increased armed gangs.

Many service stations have remained closed in recent months or have opened occasionally. Meanwhile, informal fuel sales are growing along the highways, with trade unionists blaming the government and the private sector.

The general coordinator of the National Workers' Central of Haiti, Dominique St Eloi, called on the population to be vigilant about gas prices.  "It is the exploited masses that are the workers, the peasants and the people of the popular neighborhoods who pay the consequences of expensive life and misery," he said on Twitter. 

The situation was exacerbated by recent gang warfare in the north of the capital Port-au-Prince, very close to the site of the Varreux terminal, the country's largest storage capacity.  Since July 8, distribution trucks have been unable to access the facility and fuel shipments have been blocked at the city's port.