Port-au-Prince (Le Floridien) — In what appears to be a long-overdue shift in national policy, the Haitian government has announced a significant increase in investment in public security, pledging over 31 billion gourdes (approx. $236 million USD) to strengthen both the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAd’H).
Speaking on Friday, Jean-Michel Moïse, Haiti’s Minister of Defense, stated that the government “takes public security very seriously,” adding that the revised national budget allocates billions for the remobilization and professionalization of the country’s defense and police forces.
“The truth is that there has been no serious investment in the army since its remobilization in 2017,” Minister Moïse admitted. “The only makeshift training camp was in Léogâne, and even that was shut down. We’re now starting from scratch.”
According to Moïse, a brand-new military training center is currently under construction in Tabarre, with capacity to train 1,000 recruits. The training of new soldiers is expected to begin shortly.
As part of this initiative, the government plans to invest 7.4 billion gourdes over the next six months in recruiting soldiers, constructing military infrastructure, and purchasing essential equipment. The move is aimed at addressing the critical security vacuum that has allowed armed gangs to overrun large parts of the country, including much of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Meanwhile, Bendgy Tilias, Secretary of State for Communications, confirmed that nearly 12 billion gourdes will be dedicated specifically to equipping the PNH and FAd’H in their fight against heavily armed gangs that have plunged the nation into chaos.
A Late but Critical Realization
This announcement marks what many observers see as a belated but necessary recognition by the government of the need to invest meaningfully in Haiti’s security apparatus, which has been underfunded and under-equipped for decades. The collapse of public safety and the rise of gang-controlled territories have exposed the inability of the current forces to respond effectively without significant support and modernization.
While the path ahead remains daunting, the mobilization of resources at this scale suggests that the Haitian state may finally be taking national security as a cornerstone of national recovery, amid growing pressure from both the international community and Haitian citizens themselves.
The real test, however, will lie not in the announcement, but in the implementation, oversight, and sustainability of this historic investment.
