Haitians demand priority after government spends $3.8M for a brief visit from Colombia's leader

APNews - 23/01
Haiti's government has invested more than $3.8 million to welcome Colombia's president. The money was used to more than double the runway at the airport in the coastal city of Jacmel, repair its streets, renovate its town hall and restore electricity to a population living in the dark for at least t

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The money materialized as soon as Colombia’s president confirmed his visit to southern Haiti.

The Haitian government invested more than $3.8 million to more than double the runway at the airport in the coastal city of Jacmel, repair its streets, renovate its town hall and restore electricity to a population living in the dark for at least three years.

The speed at which the money materialized and crews overhauled the city left many Haitians stunned in a country whose infrastructure is crumbling and where gang violence has displaced more than one million people.

“The government doesn’t have money to remove us from the camp or provide security in the country, but it does have 500 million gourdes to spend on itself for a couple of days?” wondered Antoine Jean-Baptiste.

The 44-year-old unemployed electrician lives in a ma...
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