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Posted on 01/12/2012 4:40:23 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
The world pledged some $12 billion after the earthquake. Two years later, little has been used to actually rebuild
PORT-AU-PRINCE — To see where the enormous sums of humanitarian aid directed to Haiti after its catastrophic earthquake in 2010 went, a good place to start is the ocean harbor. That’s where the island’s shore meets the rest of the world. And the best place for that is here at the seaport in the nation’s capital: Port-au-Prince, near the earthquake’s epicenter.
There, at this moment, a gigantic “supermaritime” cargo ship called the Sarine is off-loading more than five metric tons of rice that has just arrived from Miami.
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And, like the grains of rice aboard, the dollars mount into the hundreds of millions; even billions. According to some reports, the United States government, American individuals, families and humanitarian groups donated approximately $3 billion. That’s just from America with a total of something like $12 billion coming from all donor nations for funds to be disbursed.
Still, somehow, no one seems quite sure precisely how many grains — or dollars — we’re talking about. The accounting seems to have a sliding scale that can move hundreds of millions of dollars one way or another. At the time of publication, President Bill Clinton, the UN Special Envoy to Haiti and the co-chair of overseeing the nation’s re-construction for the last two years, hasn’t responded to repeated requests by GlobalPost regarding specific aid and cash donation figures.
Where those billions went following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that left a government-estimated figure of 220,000 people dead — and at least 1.6 million more homeless — remains a confounding mystery.
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
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I think they bought a fleet of Chevy Volts with the money...
I can personally attest that my company was involved in sales of metal roofing and plywood that went to Haiti. However, this was being used to build temporary structures.
Think shack: 4’x8’ 3/4” CDX plywood floor with a steel sheet metal roof. Not your most gracious living space.
Sheet metal that is not rusted is a HUGE improvement for a large part of that population. Our church recently did some mission work in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We tore down a house of poorly framed wood and very rusty corrugated sheet metal. The materials were all saved, in case someone else in the community needed them. Then we began construction on a concrete home. In the DR, there are haves and have-nots. But even the haves, in most cases, don’t live as well as most welfare recipients in the US. It is typical to see a fairly nice home, but without indoor plumbing.
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