After being shut down for about three months, the Toussaint-Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince has resumed operation a few days before 1,000 Kenyan police officers are deployed to Haiti.
The airport was reopened on Monday, May 20, with only one airline operating at the moment. Other airlines are expected to also resume operation in the next few weeks.
Airlines from the US are expected to also resume their flights to and from the Caribbean nation in late May or early June.
The reopening was met with excitement from the locals. Before the reopening, the residents had to travel to Cap-Haïtien where another airport is located.
"There are thousands of people who wanted to travel, but for a certain time who could not travel. I have my tent which I had to live in for more than three months. Many people were suffering," a resident told AP Television News.
The airport had been shut down after increased gang violence this was after former Prime Minister Henry Ariel travelled to Kenya to sign a bilateral treaty in March.
Gangs stopped all operations at the main airport barring Ariel from reentering the country and he was forced to seek refuge in Puerto Rico. He was later forced to resign.
While Ariel was away, the gang also stormed into two major prisons which resulted in over 4,000 prisoners escaping further exacerbating the situation. The gangs continued to wreak havoc and send warnings to the Multinational Security Mission led by Kenya.
Due to the increase in crimes such as murders and kidnappings, the Kenye-led team is expected to bring peace to the Caribbean nation in the coming months.
The deployment of the 1,000 police officers is expected to take place in the next "few weeks or days" according to Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'Oei.
This deployment coincides with President William Ruto's State visit to the United States from May 20 to May 24. The US has been one of the biggest financiers of the Multinational Security Mission.
Initially, the US promised to fund the mission with Ksh12.8 billion (USD100 million) but only Ksh2.7 billion has been disbursed after Republican politicians raised concerns.
However, the US has remained committed to ensuring the effectiveness of the peacekeeping mission led by Kenya. The nation has gone as far as directing troops to construct barracks for the foreign soldiers ahead of the mission.
Other countries such as Canada and Benin have offered help in terms of funding and more troops respectively.
Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Antigua and Barbuda also volunteered to send more police officers.
Haitians who are living in fear are awaiting the deployment of troops to quell the violence.
