Woman kidnapped while leaving business meeting
A young entrepreneur was kidnapped in Port-au-Prince in broad daylight Wednesday afternoon.
Byanka Gauthier, 24, was driving from a business meeting in Lathan Plaine, a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, when three vehicles began following her. One vehicle then pulled in front of Gauthier’s Nissan and blocked her. Quickly, two heavily-armed men then stepped out of their car and took control of Gauthier’s car. They threatened to kill her if she moved.
Gauthier’s kidnappers then called the family on Thursday to ask for a ransom, according to Gauthier’s older sister, who asked that her name not be disclosed.
Gauthier’s car was later found in Lilavois, Port-au-Prince Thursday. Source
Court of Accounts asks for government’s spending inventories
The Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation (CSC/CA) has asked Michel Patrick Boisvert, the minister of finance, for a detailed inventory of certain purchases made on behalf of the government.
In its letter on Tuesday asking the spending details, CSC/CA officials invoked Article 88 of a recent decree requiring government agencies to provide the inventories to the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, then the CSC/CA by Oct. 31, the letter reads.
The CSC/CA also sent a copy of the letter to Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe. Source
USAID donates hygiene kits to 300 schools for COVID-19
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said on Twitter Thursday that it distributed handwashing stations, buckets, soap, chlorine and pamphlets to 300 schools in five different departments to help Haiti fight against the novel coronavirus.
The distribution will help 30,000 students remain healthy during the pandemic. USAID donated the hygiene kits through its partnership with UNOPS and Caris Foundation Haiti.
As of Dec. 14, Haiti had 9, 627 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 234 deaths and 8, 310 recoveries, according to the Ministry of Public Health.