Why is the Haitian Post Office in free fall?

A US decision and insecurity are accelerating the lack of business at La Poste. Officials at the public institution say they want a monopoly on the postal market and invest in online commerce and financial services

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The revenues of the Haitian Post Office (OPH) are at their lowest.

In two to three years, the state institution’s revenues have fallen by 95%, from around 20–25 million gourdes to just 1 million gourdes per month, Djimly Xavier, the technical director of the OPH since 2021, revealed to AyiboPost.

Activities limited to the distribution of local mail in areas that are still accessible are also at their lowest.

The OPH normally distributed around 3,000 parcels and letters per month.

Today, « this figure may have fallen to 1,500 per month, » adds Alxana Pierre, chief brigadier at the OPH and responsible for coordinating mail distribution operations.

The free fall of this institution founded in 1879 is accelerating with insecurity.

Earlier this year, gangs ransacked their headquarters on Capois Street in Port-au-Prince.

Central services are temporarily located in the OPH Operations Center (a sorting center) at SONAPI. This space now houses both administrative offices and serves as storage.

OPH currently offers postal services such as the delivery of physical letters to individuals and businesses and the rapid delivery of parcels and official documents through the Express Mail Service (EMS).

AyiboPost noted a very small quantity of parcels awaiting delivery to SONAPI during a meeting with the institution’s Board of Directors on September 10.

The storage space at the Haitian Post Office (OPH) sorting center, practically empty. Photo: Jean Feguens Regala

In reality, technological advances in recent decades have made the circulation of paper documents virtually obsolete. Several private companies offer delivery services, often more reliable than the OPH, also known as La Poste.

Additionally, since November 2024, the United States Postal Service (USPS), the American equivalent responsible for the distribution and delivery of mail in the United States and internationally, has suspended its operations with Haiti following the decision by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ban all American flights due to insecurity until March 2026.

Also, the OPH can only send packages abroad, but can no longer receive them from the United States.

In reality, technological advances in recent decades have made the circulation of paper documents virtually obsolete. Several private companies offer delivery services, often more reliable than the OPH, also known as La Poste.

To ensure the international shipment of parcels, the Office relies on private partners such as Medasa, an affiliate of Amerijet. But delivery remains blocked, increasing the pressure on the institution.

« We are exploring different approaches and possible solutions, but we don’t know how long this situation will last, » Carel Alexandre, director general of the OPH for ten years, told AyiboPost.

Carel Alexandre, director of the Haitian Post Office (OPH), presents the premises. Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Photo: Jean Feguens Regala

Formal and informal shipping and import-export companies are rife in the market.

According to Director Alexandre, the OPH, which should occupy a leading position as a state institution, finds itself relegated behind these private companies due to a lack of regulation.

In the courtyard of the Sorting Center, the logo of the Haitian Post Office (OPH). Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Photo: Jean Feguens Regala

A 1987 decree limits the structure’s powers: it cannot offer financial services, such as money transfers or electronic payments, nor engage in online commerce, two sectors that are now essential in the postal world, according to its managers.

The Ministry of Commerce issues permits to private companies wishing to open an import-export company in Haiti.

« We would like to have real control so that we can become a true market regulator, » explains Alexandre. But in the absence of a « monopoly » and a clear legal framework, private companies have rushed into the breach, taking market share that the OPH has never been able to capture, he says.

On this subject, the OPH has already submitted a reorganization project to the government. The objective: to modernize the institution, expand its skills, and enable it to align with international standards. The Office also aims to invest in e-commerce and financial services, as postal services around the world do.

Read also: Gangs control access to protected areas in Haiti

But this requires massive investment and political support. “I would like to see the institution become different, and I hope we will have enough resources to make it more dynamic,” says Xavier, the technical director of the OPH.

The OPH, as we know it today, has its roots in the General Postal Administration, created in 1879 under the presidency of Lysius Salomon Félicité Jeune.

In 1881, this administration signed the convention to join the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the international organization of the United Nations which coordinates postal services throughout the world.

For over a century, the Haitian Post Office ensured the circulation of letters and parcels throughout the country. In 1987, a decree transformed the administration into an OPH.

The institution then acquired an autonomous, commercial and financial status, while remaining under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) with the mission of supervising and managing the distribution of mail on a local, national and international scale, while maintaining the link with the UPU.

Although the OPH currently wants a form of monopoly and regulation of the sector, many customers express their dissatisfaction with its lack of communication or unsatisfactory services.

Junior Laraque Saint-Pierre recalls his bad experience in 2022. « I was supposed to receive a package from the United States. It took me a month to get it, and only after numerous procedures and requests, » says the customer, specifying that it was his first experience with the service and that the lack of communication with customers is one of the reasons for his dissatisfaction.

Asked about this case by AyiboPost, Bellicar Bellevue, assistant to the technical management, explains: « Several reasons can sometimes be beyond our control. A delay can occur if the package has not yet arrived at our offices in Haiti or if the distance to be covered takes longer than expected ».

Around ten shipping service users randomly interviewed by AyiboPost indicated that they did not know what the OPH does or thought that it no longer worked at all.

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James Charles, 26, earns his living by shopping online for clients, a business he’s been doing for two years. He explains, « I often use other shipping companies in Haiti, but I didn’t even know if the Haitian Post Office was still operating for parcel delivery, » he says, considering it an old institution.

The vast majority of decentralized offices in the metropolitan area remain closed. If a customer in Croix-des-Bouquets receives a package from La Poste, for example, they must come and collect it, explains Xavier, technical director at the OPH since 2021.

The OPH, as we know it today, has its roots in the General Postal Administration, created in 1879 under the presidency of Lysius Salomon Félicité Jeune.

“To deliver mail to some of our branches, such as Carrefour, public employees must take public transport and contribute to paying gang toll booths to be able to pass,” reveals Alxana Pierre, chief brigadier at the OPH and responsible for coordinating mail delivery operations.

The same observation is made by Jean Wisly Rosembert, a postman for 30 years at the OPH and mail delivery driver in the Croix-des-Missions area.

« I can do it because I know the area, it’s where I live, » explains Rosembert, who says he sometimes has to resort to his own strategies to continue working, such as not using the means of transport that the institution provides.

By : Lucnise Duquereste