Haiti rebuilding delays raise concern

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/07/09/haiti-reconstruction-questions.html


Six months after Haiti was struck by a catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake, questions are being raised about how the hundreds of millions of dollars in aid money is being directed.

Many Canadians gave generously following the Jan. 12 quake, which killed more than 200,000 people and devastated the Caribbean country's capital.

The Canadian Red Cross alone raised some $200 million, while the federal government has pledged $600 million for reconstruction efforts.

But many aid workers who have recently visited Haiti say there is little sign of progress.

People are still living in tents and the streets remain littered with rubble, said Dr. Christian Lauriston, a Montreal-based family doctor and president of the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad.

Lauriston has been working with the Haitian government to help rebuild hospitals. He visited the country in May to survey the progress.

"I saw the disaster, the terrible disaster in Haiti, and nothing has been done to help," said Lauriston.

Haitian-born Montrealer Matine St-Victor helped raise nearly $50,000 for Haiti, but she said aid workers who recently visited the country told her it is as though the quake happened yesterday.

"And, that's really why I stopped fundraising because I don't know where the money is going," said St-Victor. "People are still in dire conditions in Haiti. Where's this money?"


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/07/09/haiti-reconstruction-questions.html#ixzz0uXzMnysk


Okay, whats going on here. Where is the fucking money? Big teary eyed empathy 6 months ago, but now where is Haiti in the news? Anderson Cooper, where are you? Why aren't you following up on the story of WHERE IS THE FUCKING MONEY WE ALL DONATED?

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I stand corrected!
http://www.latimes.com/sns-haiti-relief-promises,0,3914991.story

Six months after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, most governments that promised money to help rebuild the country have not delivered any funds at all, a CNN investigation has found.

Donors promised $5.3 billion at an aid conference in March, about two months after the earthquake -- but less than 2 percent of that money has been handed over so far.

Only four countries have paid anything: Brazil, Norway, Estonia and Australia.

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The United States pledged $1.15 billion. It has paid nothing, with the money tied up in the congressional appropriations process.

Venezuela promised even more -- $1.32 billion. It has also paid nothing, although it has written off some of Haiti's debt.

Former President Bill Clinton, a U.N. special envoy for Haiti, said he plans to put pressure on governments that have been slow to deliver on their promises.

"I'm going to call all those governments and say, the ones who said they'll give money to support the Haitian government, I want to try to get them to give the money, and I'm trying to get the others to give me a schedule for when they'll release it,"

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There has got to be a better system of donating that just making hollow promises you don't have to deliver on! This is so disgraceful, and I have a feeling its not the first time it's happened.

had raised £101 million for Haiti and the majority was being given to Haiti in hard goods - tenting and water santitation equipment etc. I concluded from that that it reduced the risk of the funds going astray. One of the other DU'ers mentioned that the real issue there is land ownership and those displaced are currently paying extronionate rents for their temporary "plot". It had also been mentoned here that none of the promised US aid has reached Haiti at all .......other than the military presense after the earthquake occured. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to cancel Haiti's $268m (£176m) debt and lend the impoverished Caribbean nation a further $60m. More details of that here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10720877

As much as I hate to say it it may have been better if an international force of some description had stayed there to manage the situation and by that I do not US contractors. :(

I mean for heavens sakes, there's been plenty of disasters around the world that donations are being called for.

It sounds like this is the first time such a thing was tried.

I smell a big fucking scam, one of the worst ever.

by countries , not publicly funded distaster charities , are generally speaking a myth in as much they never fully materialise........if at all.

does THAT money get to Haiti, or does my government hold onto Red Cross donations as well - are all donations from a certain country transferred to the recipient by the governements?

Sorry to be such a noob, but you seem to know about this.

DID MY DONATION GET TO HAITI?

:cries:

telling me a few years ago that you need to be careful of the way in which you donate money becuase some charities / collecting agencies have higher admin costs than others. I'm UK and the accounts of all of our registered charities are available online by just using their charity number. I have a feeling that in the USA charities have to declare what percentage they retain. Not sure what happens in Canada but I would doubt your government takes any of the funds.

If I made a donation to the Canadian Red Cross, do you have any idea if that money actually arrived in Haiti via the Red Cross, or
is this part of the pledges that governments have not yet fullfilled - that all money from a country gets lumped into one heap before sending.

Or, as it just dawned on me now, the Red Cross money of individuals probably did get to Haiti, it's the Governmental Pledges that are being held up.

But still that doesn't seem to fit with how little money Haiti actually got.

about how millions of dollars donated to the Red Cross never made it to victims but went into their general fund instead.
I also remember hearing similar stories after the Tsunami.
What the fuck is it with the Red Cross?