This is shameful. The American Red Cross dropped the ball as well.
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Updated: 8:17 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016
Haitians living in tents 6 years after quake; Where did donations go?
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/haiti-earthquake-donations-red-cross-homes-tents/nqCbd/
The truth is the money sent was tracked. (56%) of it went to Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virgina_ the " BELTWAY BANDITS!"
In 2016, nearly 80,000 people, many of them children, still live in these tent cities. The conditions are harsh -- no running water, no electricity and no bathrooms.
Jake Johnston, with the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., has spent years looking into how American money was spent in Haiti. He explained that once the U.S. grants a contract to a company, it's often sub-contracted with each company taking money for overhead.
"It becomes difficult to know how much is getting taken off the top at each layer," Johnston said. "This information is protected as sort of a corporate trade secret."
Johnston got records on the spending through the Freedom of Information Act, but most were redacted. Others included sheet after sheet of blank pink paper.
He was able to track down just who is getting most of the money.
"Looking at the USAID funds, 1.5 percent went to Haitian companies and about
56 percent went to firms located in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia - the area termed as
Beltway Bandits," Johnston said.
A 2013 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office showed these companies scaled back the plans from 15,000 new houses to just about 2,600, claiming their initial estimates were too low.
The GAO report also contains a chart that shows most of the USAID-built houses are going in areas of Haiti not affected by the earthquake. Zero are slated for Port-Au-Prince.
Billions Donated
After the massive quake, billions of dollars from the United States were promised to help rebuild Haiti. Some of it - $1.2 billion - was taxpayer dollars approved by Congress for agencies like the United States Agency for International Development. Millions more were donated by Metro Atlantans, and others around the country, to relief organizations like the American Red Cross.
Still, since that time, the American Red Cross has admitted it has only built six near homes for Haitians. The latest USAID plan for new homes in Haiti includes zero in Port-Au-Prince.
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WHAT IS BELOW IS HOW THE UNITED STATES REPORT IT! ========
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1982.htm
Bilateral Representation
The U.S. Ambassador to Haiti is
Pamela A. White.
Haiti maintains an
embassy in the United States at 2311 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-332-4090).
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U.S. Relations With Haiti
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Fact Sheet
May 11, 2015
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U.S.-HAITI RELATIONS
Haiti is a U.S. policy priority. When this close neighbor is more prosperous, secure, and firmly rooted in democracy, Haitians and Americans benefit. U.S. policy toward Haiti is designed to foster the institutions and infrastructure necessary for it to achieve strong democratic foundations and meaningful poverty reduction through sustainable development. The United States provides substantial humanitarian assistance so that the most vulnerable of Haitians can better meet their basic needs in health and nutrition. Assistance for longer-term development and institution building is another pillar of U.S.-Haiti bilateral cooperation. Priority areas include support for economic growth and poverty reduction, improved healthcare and food security, promoting respect for human rights, building stronger democratic institutions, and expanding the Haitian National Police so that Haiti can better provide for its own security and be an effective partner against international crime. Because poverty reduction and tackling chronic unemployment require job creation, the United States facilitates bilateral trade and investment with Haiti. The large Haitian diaspora in the United States is a potentially powerful ally in the effort to expand business opportunities and build on the many links that unite Haitians and Americans.
Five years after the January 2010 earthquake that devastated much of the country, Haiti has transitioned from a post-disaster era to a period of building and long-term development. As of January 2015, more than 90 percent of the 1.5 million displaced persons in camps have found alternative housing. Nearly all earthquake debris that obstructed recovery has been removed. Thousands of needed jobs are being created in Haiti’s growing export apparel sector. Since 2011 Haiti has achieved positive annual growth rates, including 2.8 percent in 2014. With U.S. and international support Haiti has seen a steady and substantial decrease in the number of cholera cases since the initial outbreak in 2010. Much remains to be done to sustain and build on this progress.
Since the earthquake, the United States has made available nearly $4 billion for assistance to Haiti to support life-saving post-disaster relief as well as longer-term recovery, reconstruction, and development programs. Even before the earthquake Haiti was among the least developed nations and faced chronic challenges to meaningful poverty reduction. Against this background, the country’s reconstruction and development will continue for many years.
Haiti’s transition to a strong democracy is important to the United States as that country’s authoritarian history becomes increasingly part of its past rather than its future
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U.S. Assistance to Haiti
Haiti’s long-term development is a priority for the United States. To advance this important objective, the United States developed a comprehensive strategy in consultation with the Haitian Government. U.S. assistance focuses on stimulating economic activity, investing in key infrastructure, and enhancing the delivery of basic services. U.S. programs focus on three geographic development corridors:
a) Port-au-Prince,
b) Saint Marc and
c) Cap Haitien. The St. Marc and Cap Haitien corridors support an important Government of Haiti objective – to create centers of economic activity outside the overcrowded capital of Port-au-Prince. U.S. assistance invests in four sectorial pillars: 1) Infrastructure and energy, 2) Food and economic security, 3) Health and other basic services, and 4) Governance and rule of law. Highlights of results of U.S. assistance to Haiti four years after the earthquake include:
- Some 328,000 displaced Haitians housed,
- 2.7 million cubic meters of rubble removed,
- 6,000 jobs created at the Caracol Industrial Park in Haiti’s north,
- Tens of thousands of Haitian farmers have higher crop yields and incomes,
- A new 10 megawatt power plant is providing electricity in the north,
- The Haitian National Police is stronger with the addition of more than 3,000 new officers,
- More Haitians have access to police services as a result of new police commissariats built in areas not previously serviced by the police,
- Some 600 semi-permanent classrooms were constructed enabling 60,000 children to return to school, and
- Many basic health indicators, including child nutrition and mortality and HIV/AIDS are improving.