The managers of the Haitian subcontracting subsidiary S&H Global of the South Korean textile group Sae-A, the largest employer in Haiti based in the Caracol Industrial Park, announced through a note the closure of one of their assembly plants and the dismissal of more than 3,500 workers.

Excerpts from the S&H Global note :

"[...] over the past year S&H Global has been forced to suspend operations on numerous occasions due to Haiti customs strikes, border closures and other acts of social unrest culminating in a shutdown. 2 months to the end of the year when the local power plant had to close due to a fuel shortage caused by Port-au-Prince gangs who had taken control of the key fuel terminal in Port-au-Prince.

Throughout the year, these disruptions have resulted in numerous delays in shipments of incoming materials, paralysis of production, stalled shipments of finished products, cancellation of orders and loss of confidence on the part of our retail customers in the United States [...]

Orders are being re-routed elsewhere in the Caribbean and Central America to other reliable suppliers and factories, leaving S&H Global with a shortage of orders.

While we remain hopeful that the global economy is improving, the reality is that the order picture is not expected to pick up anytime soon. Our number one priority is to regain the trust of our buyers, but as they say, you have to see to believe, so we will see how 2023 plays out.

[... It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce the sad news that after careful consideration, we have to make the difficult decision to close one of the factories (Module #3 which employs approximately 1,000 workers) and also proceed to a dismissal in the 5 other factories of 2,500 additional workers.

Module #3 will begin the redundancy process shortly with an expected closure by February 28 [...]

S&H Global is committed to paying NOTICE to all employees subject to termination [...] If and when the business environment improves and orders return we will do our best to initiate appropriate re-employment plan [...]"

HL/ HaitiLibre