A Stand-In Church for a Quake-Destroyed Cathedral Is Set Alight as Gangs Fight for Downtown Port-au-Prince

• Suspected gang members set fire to a church in downtown Port-au-Prince
• The transitional church stood near the cathedral destroyed in the 2010 earthquake
• Fighting broke out blocks from the National Palace and the national penitentiary
• The State University of Haiti suspended classes after bullets landed in classrooms

Suspected gang members set a church on fire in downtown Port-au-Prince as fighting for territory intensified in Haiti’s capital, the Associated Press reported in a story carried by the Jamaica Observer.

Firefighters put out a blaze that partially burned a transitional church built near the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, which was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. Heavy gunfire continued while they worked. The fighting broke out just blocks from the National Palace and the National Penitentiary, where hungry prisoners tried to revolt because they believed gangs were coming to free them. “There is no mutiny or invasion,” said Government Commissioner Jacques Lafontant, adding that with weak equipment and scarce resources it could take police a couple of days to stabilise the area.

The once bustling downtown area has become increasingly dangerous and deserted as a gang coalition known as G9 tries to take it from rival gangs. Bullets have hit nearby homes and businesses, and the State University of Haiti suspended classes after bullets were found in its courtyard and classrooms. The day before, another gang set fire to a courthouse in Croix-des-Bouquets, and a gang had earlier taken over part of Haiti’s Court of First Instance.

The violence has grown since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated on July 7, 2021. The United Nations said more than 470 people had been killed, injured or had disappeared in less than a week of turf wars in nearby Cité Soleil. Haiti has roughly 12,800 police officers for more than 11 million people.

The burned church shows how insecurity destroys property in stages. The cathedral fell in the 2010 earthquake, the stand-in church was burned in gang fighting, and businesses, homes and the university around them have been emptied by gunfire. When gangs control a district, church and business property there loses much of its value because people cannot safely use it. For Jamaica, where many Haitians have sought refuge and where some communities struggle with gang control, the lesson is that security must come first for downtown areas to recover and hold their value.

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