Bus drivers return to work in Haiti after government lowers fuel prices

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti _ A strike by bus drivers in Haiti that brought traffic to a halt in much of the country ended a day early Tuesday after the government agreed to further reduce the regulated price of fuel.

Representatives of three transit unions and the government reached the settlement in time for people to get to work and school as normal. Few Haitians can afford their own vehicles and most depend on the small, often vividly painted buses known as tap-taps to get around.

Drivers went on strike because they insisted government cuts to the cost of fuel didn’t go far enough given the global drop in oil prices. Some erected flaming barricades of tires and other debris at several intersections in Port-au-Prince until they were dispersed by police firing tear gas.

The government had initially reduced the price of gasoline by about 25 cents to $4.50. It will now be just over $4 a gallon. Diesel had been cut by about 20 cents to $3.55. It will now be about $3.30.

The Associated Press