As storm threatens Haiti, $1.15B in reconstruction aid still stuck in Washington

[Mass]

No comments, but we can be sure more and more of this will happen with this new Congress.

http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-cb-haiti-undelivered-aid,0,1296177.story

As storm threatens Haiti, $1.15B in reconstruction aid still stuck in Washington




PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — As if Haitians living in tents and under scraps of plastic don't have enough to grapple with as a tropical storm bears down and cholera spreads, the U.S. Congress has put up another obstacle to delivering the $1.15 billion in reconstruction money it promised back in March.

The State Department still has to prove the money won't be stolen or misused — not an easy task in a country notorious for corruption.

"Given the weak governmental institutions that existed in Haiti even before the earthquake, Congress wants to be sure we have that accountability in place before these funds are obligated," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told The Associated Press.

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But without the reconstruction money, Haiti's long-term needs remain unaddressed: Temporary shelters have gone unbuilt, rubble has not been removed and some 1.3 million people remain homeless in and around the capital, unable to find or afford safe places to live. The cholera outbreak has killed more than 440 people and sickened thousands, spreading too quickly to be contained.

Now aid groups are rushing to protect the fragile tent camps where an estimated 1.3 million people live ahead of Tropical Storm Tomas, which forecasters said could regain hurricane strength by Friday and dump up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain. Haitian civil protection officials advised all camp residents to find other shelter, but most have nowhere to go.
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"As Haiti faces another natural disaster and is still reeling from the recent cholera outbreak, this is not the time to delay assistance," Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman who sponsored the aid bill, told the AP on Thursday.

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"There is no question we should do everything we can to assist our neighbors in Haiti," Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma wrote in an Oct. 8 letter explaining why he objects to quick approval of the bill Kerry and Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker wrote to authorize the spending. Haiti must first commit to fighting corruption, and any additional Haiti spending must come only at the expense of other State Department programs, Coburn said.

"I do not object to fulfilling our pledge to assist Haiti recover. However, I believe our charity today should not come at the expense of the next generation," Coburn wrote in the letter, addressed to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"Therefore, any additional aid we provide must be paid for with cuts to lower priority programs elsewhere within the federal government's bloated $3.7 trillion annual budget."

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As Republicans and Democrats point fingers in Washington, some contractors are giving up on reconstruction projects that depended on the money.