Posted on 09/13/2005 2:17:25 PM PDT by grundle
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050913/ts_nm/katrina_dead_dc_1;_ylt=A86.I0bIOidDI0EAAAEbLisB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Slowness of recovery of Katrina dead criticized
September 13, 2005
BATON ROUGE (Reuters) - Louisiana's governor condemned the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday for moving too slowly to recover the dead from New Orleans and said she has signed a contract directly on behalf of the state with the recovery company originally hired by FEMA.
"I have taken action today to resolve a matter that involves life, death and dignity," Kathleen Blanco told reporters and said she had expressed her "absolute frustration" with the pace of the recovery to federal authorities but to no avail.
"I cannot stand by while this vital operation is not being handled appropriately," she said.
Authorities have confirmed 279 deaths in Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina hit two weeks ago, though fears have begun to abate that New Orleans alone could hold 10,000 dead or more beneath its flood waters.
Blanco said she has signed a contract with Kenyon International Emergency Services after the company threatened to pull out of the state because it had not yet signed a formal contract with FEMA.
Asked about the issue, FEMA spokesman David Passey said: "From what I understand, Kenyon had some questions about the contract."
He said from the beginning FEMA had expected Louisiana to take the lead in the collection of bodies and FEMA was satisfied that the state had signed a contract with the company.
"I don't know the exact nature of the contract concerns. We made our best effort to engage Kenyon in a contract," he said. The fact that the state had signed a contract with Kenyon would allow federal mortuary teams to "get on with what they do best," the identification of the dead.
Blanco said FEMA's failure to sign a contract with Kenyon had slowed the entire recovery process. She spoke ahead of a meeting with a group of the state's elected officials, including the secretary of state and attorney general.
"The failure to execute a contract for recovery of our citizens has slowed the recovery operations," she said. "We are at the epicenter of a natural disaster of global proportions."
The governor did not give details of the financial arrangements of the state's contract with Kenyon, and spokespeople for the company could not immediately comment.
Kenyon, a division of Service Corp. International, said on September 7 it had been hired by FEMA for recovery services.
FEMA has become the target of strong criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the hurricane, which struck the U.S. Gulf coast two weeks ago, killing hundreds and displacing 1 million people in the nation's worst natural disaster.
FEMA director Michael Brown, whose work was initially praised by President George W. Bush, resigned on Monday.
Bush himself took responsibility on Tuesday for failures in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and acknowledged the storm exposed serious deficiencies at all levels of government four years after the September 11 attacks.
Reincarnation just isn't as fast as it used to be.
Is there ANYTHING these people don't complain about??
Never bothered her before today.......
I was always told to clean up after myself. She made alot of dead bodies, she should clean them up
They're dead...and not going anywhere.
That's what I thought the first time too, I suspected a scrapple face post.
But if she wants them picked up faster, she can get her shovel and go down there herself. It isn't even dry yet. They will be finding dead for months.
Shese got volunteers from all over the country working for free and she bitches because the people cleaning up HER mess aren't doing it fast enough.
We've been seeing some stuff that would indicate that some on the left are trying to steer this into another scandal or "gate".Apparently , Kenyon International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Service Corporation International, a Houston based corporation.
SCI is a company owned by a friend of Bush who was allegedly part of something called Funeralgate, "the scandal involving Bush and Joe Allbaugh, former director of FEMA, in 1999" according to some e-mails we're seeing.
"Also, SCI has settled claims for $100 million for allegedly dumping bodies in the woods, among other atrocities," according to the claims.
"Bush Cronyism Extends To The Dead" has been posted here and apparently also to DU
Lucky for her shes in Louisiana.
Yes, Governor, but the NUMBER of dead is more your fault, isn't it?
beat me to that one. What a retard this woman is. The bigger retards are the ones who believe her.
They're dead...and not going anywhere. Jim
Blanco; "I cannot stand by while this vital operation is not being handled appropriately"
She was probably thinking
"I shall have to sit this one out as well"
sp
"Slowness of recovery of Katrina dead criticized"
Blanco does have a point. She killed them a hell of a lot faster than they are recovering them.
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