The Minister of Economy and Finance, Ketleen Florestal, has taken over the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI) and announced the satisfaction of some demands from employees who recently went on strike. She has also dismissed the current director general, Jean Emmanuel Casseus. “I promise to lead the DGI with seriousness. Now, I am doing so directly with a director,” the minister told Le Nouvelliste in Washington on Friday, October 25, 2024. When asked if the director general would be replaced, Florestal replied, “I hope so,” but clarified that the decision does not solely depend on her. “At the last minute, he wanted to show that he was still present. The employees have clearly expressed their frustration with him and do not want him back at the DGI. The employees of the DGI have been left behind… From what I have seen, I don’t see how a collaboration with him would be possible either,” the Minister of Economy and Finance stated bluntly.

There was widespread frustration among DGI employees, who felt overlooked for too long. They lacked the necessary tools for their work and believed they had been excluded from the distribution of benefits, particularly concerning discrepancies in profit distribution. “Most staff received a pittance, really low amounts, while the upper management received millions of gourdes. We have taken the initiative to correct this immediately,” Florestal revealed. She noted that staff members earning less than 32,500 gourdes received financial support of 50,000 gourdes at the beginning of the fiscal year. “This is not the amount that will be given to all employees. It is meant to address what we consider unacceptable and unjust while we work on a framework for the allocation of these benefits known as ‘Ti kat,’” Florestal explained. She further emphasized, “There is no public entity where someone earns 100,000 gourdes and has a debit card of 75,000 gourdes.”