Troubled meat market is key supplier for Haiti’s capital
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — La Saline slaughterhouse is a nightmarish panorama of animal blood, body parts and detritus. It’s also an essential part of the economy of the Haitian capital, supplying meat to restaurants, street vendors and stores.
Associated Press photographer Chery Dieu Nalio spent nearly a month documenting conditions in the market and the lives of more than 100 people who work there. He found a constant struggle to make ends meet in the face of unhygienic conditions, poor regulation and even deadly violence.
More than 300,000 goats are butchered every year in La Saline, at the edge of a slum by the same name that forms part of the sprawl of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The market is mostly a dirt yard, with a few huts made of worn sheet metal, wood and cloth. Chunks of raw meat sit on tables for purchase by customers. The remnants of slaughtered animals are dumped in a canal at the entrance of the market, filling the area with a foul stench and causing flooding in the surrounding neighbourhood.
Outside the market is the neighbourhood known as La Saline, so violent that market workers and customers frequently have to dive to the ground to avoid stray bullets.