It’s Haiti v8 – What Time is it?

     This weekend Haiti returned to Standard Time just like the U.S. What is the point of Daylight Savings Time here? Because of Haiti’s proximity to the equator, there is little change in daylight hours with the changing of the seasons. So why does Haiti switch back and forth between Daylight Savings Time and Eastern Standard Time? It doesn’t always. It depends on the government in power. Previous governments did not make the time change. When Michel Martelly took office two years ago, he decided it would be a good idea to make the time change to stay in sync with the East coast of the U.S., to remain on the same time as Miami, Washington, DC and New York. So now it gets dark here at 5 pm, and dinner in the dining hall is still at 6 pm. So we walk over there in the dark from the lab. And now the roosters and chickens start making noise at 5 am instead of 6 am.
It’s Haiti.