US Senate Report Says Haiti Rebuilding Has Stalled [But 0 told Haitians "We Will Not Forsake You"]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Haiti has made little progress in rebuilding in the five months since its earthquake, because of an absence of leadership, disagreements among donors and general disorganization, a U.S. Senate report says.

Obtained Monday by The Associated Press, the eight-page report is meant to give Congress a picture of Haiti today as U.S. legislators consider authorizing $2 billion to support the country's reconstruction.

That picture is grim: Millions displaced from their homes, rubble and collapsed buildings still dominating the landscape. Three weeks into hurricane season, with tropical rains lashing the capital daily, construction is being held up by land disputes and customs delays while plans for moving people out of tent-and-tarp settlements remain in ''early draft form,'' it says.

The report was written by staff of Sen. John Kerry, the Massachuetts Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and other Democrats who interviewed U.S., Haitian, United Nations and other officials and visited resettlement camps, hospitals and schools throughout the quake zone.

''While many immediate humanitarian relief priorities appear to have been met, there are troubling signs that the recovery and longer term rebuilding activities are flagging,'' said the report, which is scheduled to be released Tuesday.

Three times it says the rebuilding process has ''stalled'' since the Jan. 12 disaster.

maybe he can play golf in haiti....

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The only golf course on the island is now one of the worst tent cities. It's in Petionville (part of Port au Prince) and is where the 82nd AA set up shop (but they're gone). I've been inside it...it was hell before the rains, it's hell in mud now.

One good storm will destroy everything that has been built up since the quake. The country was hit by four hurricanes in 2008.

A few months ago I had dinner outside Port au Prince with a successful businessman and his family (the house would be worth 4-6 million on Long Island - they were living in tents in the courtyard). They were all certain that Obama would ride to the rescue with a Haitian Marshall Plan. I set them straight on that. Obama wins nothing politically by spending big in Haiti and he loses nothing by ignoring the problem. Add to that the fact that the US is broke and you get to the reality, which is that Haiti cannot rely on Washington for anything but lip service.

As for the Clinton/Bush effort...it is a joke. The word in Haiti is that less than 10% of that which has been donated has been spent. My wife and I support four clinics on the island through our own efforts (and the extraordinary support of the Catholic Medical Mission Board). We have tried every avenue we can find into the Clinton/Bush fund. They will not even talk to anybody who doesn't represent one of the four or five biggest international NGOs. This means that all the money will just go to the top-heavy, overhead rich, UN-related or endorsed Charity scams.

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