As Haiti approach the May 11 deadline for mandatory wearing of masks throughout the country, the government has not yet signed a formal contract with the textile industries for the manufacture of 20 million masks announced by the Prime Minister Joseph Joutheat the end of March.
Noting the lack of leadership from the Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH), Jouthe said that he is currently negotiating directly to buy the masks.
“We are negotiating with industries to inquire about their production capacity and delivery time in order to send them a letter of commitment to sign the contract,” said the head of government, who spoke on Tuesday morning on Radio Magik9 . Jouthe stressed that he now realizes that the Association of Haitian Industries cannot sign contracts on behalf of all the industries involved in the manufacture of masks. According to him, the government wasted a month in the process.
Jouthe confirmed that for the moment there is actually no formal contract signed with operators in the textile sector. However, he said, the government has already bought 2.5 million masks on the market while awaiting 20 million that are being manufactured at factories in Haiti.
But Georges Sassine, ADIH president, said that 19 factories in the textile sector have already delivered more than 700,000 masks and other equipment have been delivered to the Haitian government for free.
Sassine said that there was never any question for ADIH to sign contracts with the Haitian government on behalf of the industries to manufacture 20 million masks. Continue reading. https://lenouvelliste.com/article/215697/jouthe-ecarte-ladih-et-negocie-directement-avec-les-industriels-pour-les-20-millions-de-masques