Spent 6 months in Haiti north of Gonaives back in ‘95. Between us and Gonaives there was less than 3 mile of pavement, the rest of the 60 or so miles was dirt road...and all of it $hitty. The paved road that we did drive on was supposedly laid down by the USMC back in the ‘30’s. In my personal opinion, nothing to do with the ROP, just bad roads, bad drivers, in a 3rd world $hit hole. I went to places there that I said to myself back then, that “this place will not see electricity or running water until the 22nd century”. If you could separate Haiti and somehow tow it to some of the poorest places in Africa, nobody would notice. Every time I think of my time in Haiti, I can still smell it.
We were there in the mid 80's and I regularly drove from PaP to Cap-Haïtien right through Gonaïves. Even when it was not "RaRa Season" (Lent) going through the area was a nightmare as this was the large marketplace area where the rice growers and buyers would meet, even in the middle of the "highway" of National 1. You just had to keep rolling to move people off the roadway.
I have been in populated areas of the country far away from any road that will never have electricity.