PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -Haiti’s government hailed the reopening of the capital’s international airport on Wednesday, touting it as a “turning point” for the economy after the hub was shut down for a month due to growing gang violence.
In another promising development, a medical aid group announced the resumption of some of its operations in and around the Haitian capital.
The reopening of Toussaint Louverture International Airport was announced by Haiti’s aviation authority in a brief post. However, it was unclear when commercial flights would resume since a U.S. regulator ban on flights from the facility remains in place until at least Thursday.
Raging gangland violence has hit the capital especially hard, aggravating a prolonged social and political crisis on the Caribbean island nation, which also included shots fired at commercial planes in November that provoked carriers to suspend flights.
A separate statement from Haiti’s interim government dated Tuesday but released on Wednesday, noted that airport security has been boosted to include new patrols and checkpoints around the facility in coordination with national police, soldiers as well as the small Kenyan-led international force backed by the United Nations.
“This decision is part of a strategic approach aimed at restoring a secure environment and relaunching economic activities,” according to the government statement.
International medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Wednesday announced a partial resumption of its operations in Port-au-Prince and its wider metropolitan area after also halting activities in November due to the escalating violence.
The partial resumption includes services at three hospitals, as well as at a clinic and maternity ward. Ambulance transport remains suspended until further notice, MSF said.
Last month, the group reported an attack on one of its ambulances and subsequent harassment and threats from the local police.
(Reporting by Harold Isaac; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Christina Fincher)
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