Capitalizing on the disaster, Lewis Lucke,
a high ranking USAID relief coordinator, met twice in his USAID capacity with
the Haitian Prime Minister immediately after the quake. He then quit the agency and was hired for
$30,000 a month by a Florida corporation Ashbritt (known already for its big no
bid Katrina grants) and a prosperous Haitian partner to lobby for disaster
contracts. Locke said "it became clear to
us that if it was handled correctly the earthquake represented as much an
opportunity as it did a calamity"" Ashbritt and its Haitian partner were soon
granted a $10 million no bid contract.
Lucke said he was instrumental in securing another $10 million contract
from the World Bank and another smaller one from CHF International before their
relationship ended.
Six.
A fair amount of the pledged money has never been actually put up.
The international community decided it was
not going to allow the Haiti government to direct the relief and recovery funds
and insisted that two institutions be set up to approve plans and spending for
the reconstruction funds going to Haiti.
The first was the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) and the
second is the Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF).
In March 2010, UN countries pledged
$5.3 billion over two years and a total of $9.9 billion over three years in a
conference March 2010. The money was to
be deposited with the World Bank and distributed by the IHRC. The IHRC was co-chaired by Bill Clinton and
the Haitian Prime Minister. By
July 2010, Bill Clinton reported only 10 percent of the pledges had been given
to the IHRC.
Seven. A lot of the money which was put up has not
yet been spent.
Nearly two years after the quake, less
than 1 percent of the $412 million in US funds specifically allocated for
infrastructure reconstruction activities in Haiti had been spent by USAID and
the US State Department and only 12 percent has even been obligated according
to a November 2011 report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The performance of the two
international commissions, the IHRC and the HRF has also been poor. The Miami Herald noted that as of July 2011,
the $3.2 billion in projects approved by the IHRC only five had been completed
for a total of $84 million. The Interim
Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), which was severely criticized by Haitians and
others from its beginning, has been effectively suspended since its mandate
ended at the end of October 2011. The
Haiti Reconstruction Fund was set up to work in tandem with the IHRC, so while
its partner is suspended, it is not clear how it can move forward.
What to do
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
