Jazz Music Gathering In Haiti Postponed Because of Security Concerns
2021-11-26
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1Organizers of the Port-au-Prince International Jazz Festival
2recently announced that the music event has been postponed.
3The reason given was an increase in gang activity in the Haitian capital.
4The festival, usually held in January,
5brings together musicians from more than 12 countries every year.
6Milena Sandler is director of the Haiti Jazz Foundation which organizes the festival.
7She told the French News Agency,
8"We can't take the risk, either for the 150 musicians or for our teams or for the public."
9Sandler added,
10 "We have been thinking for a while now
11that it would be difficult...to stage a festive event in this context."
12In recent months,
13gangs have gone beyond the poorer areas of Port-au-Prince and have increased the number of kidnappings.
14Their control over the capital regularly prevents secure access to oil stations.
15As a result, fuel shortages have harmed the transportation industry.
16Many hospitals, businesses and schools have been forced to reduce their services.
17The United States and Canada have suggested that their citizens living in Haiti have an emergency plan to leave the country.
18Sandler is hopeful that the music festival will take place sometime in 2022.
19"If the situation in the country does not allow for the usual format of concerts over eight days,
20we will still have something and it won't be virtual," she said.
21Sandler added that the festival's Haitian and international partners
22were considering a program for the end of June.
23The only time the festival has been canceled was in 2010.
24That year, a huge earthquake severely damaged Port-au-Prince and other towns on January 12,
25killing more than 200,000 people.
26I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Organizers of the Port-au-Prince International Jazz Festival recently announced that the music event has been postponed. The reason given was an increase in gang activity in the Haitian capital. 2The festival, usually held in January, brings together musicians from more than 12 countries every year. 3Milena Sandler is director of the Haiti Jazz Foundation which organizes the festival. She told the French News Agency, "We can't take the risk, either for the 150 musicians or for our teams or for the public." 4Sandler added, "We have been thinking for a while now that it would be difficult...to stage a festive event in this context." 5In recent months, gangs have gone beyond the poorer areas of Port-au-Prince and have increased the number of kidnappings. 6Their control over the capital regularly prevents secure access to oil stations. As a result, fuel shortages have harmed the transportation industry. Many hospitals, businesses and schools have been forced to reduce their services. 7The United States and Canada have suggested that their citizens living in Haiti have an emergency plan to leave the country. 8Sandler is hopeful that the music festival will take place sometime in 2022. 9"If the situation in the country does not allow for the usual format of concerts over eight days, we will still have something and it won't be virtual," she said. 10Sandler added that the festival's Haitian and international partners were considering a program for the end of June. 11The only time the festival has been canceled was in 2010. That year, a huge earthquake severely damaged Port-au-Prince and other towns on January 12, killing more than 200,000 people. 12I'm Jonathan Evans. 13Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by Agence France-Presse. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 14______________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16gang -n. a group of criminals 17context -n. the situation in which something happens; the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens 18access -n. being able to get near, at, or to something or someone 19format -n. the form, design or ways something is organized and presented 20virtual - adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet