Haiti aid needs better coordination: president

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Haiti aid needs better coordination: president

Wed Jan 27, 3:03 PM
By Patricia Zengerle and Jackie Frank

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - International charities pouring a jumble of aid into Haiti must work better together to reach and help survivors of the catastrophic earthquake, President Rene Preval said on Wednesday.

Aid groups and troops from around the world have struggled to distribute food, water and medical care to an estimated 3 million Haitians injured or left homeless in the magnitude-7 earthquake that wrecked much of Haiti's capital on January 12, killing as many as 200,000 people.

"I am not in a position to criticize anybody, not in the least people who have come here to help me," Preval said. "What I am saying is, what everybody is saying is, that we need a better coordination."

Some food handouts have turned ugly, with U.N. peacekeepers using teargas and warning shots to control jostling crowds. Other people living in ragtag encampments around Port-au-Prince have complained that no food has reached them.

Preval said he was grateful for fund-raising efforts around the world and tried to ease concerns that government corruption might siphon off aid meant for desperate Haitians.

"The Haitian government has not seen one cent of that money that has been raised for Haiti. I presume that that means the money is going to NGOs," he said, referring to non-governmental aid groups.

He said a Puerto Rican group had presented him with a shipping receipt showing it donated $3.5 million of food aid to feed Haitians. Preval said he asked, "Where is the food?" and was told it had already been given to aid groups.

Read more at:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/100127/world/international_us_quake_haiti1

 

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Re: Haiti aid needs better coordination: president

<CITE class=vcard>AP: Haiti govt gets 1 penny of US quake aid dollar

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<CITE class=vcard>By YESICA FISCH and MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press Writers Yesica Fisch And Martha Mendoza, Associated Press Writers </CITE>? <ABBR class=timedate title=2010-01-27T18:22:57-0800>Wed Jan 27, 9:22 pm ET</ABBR>
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti ? Less than a penny of each dollar the U.S. is spending on earthquake relief in Haiti is going in the form of cash to the Haitian government, according to an Associated Press review of relief efforts.

Two weeks after President Obama announced an initial $100 million for Haiti earthquake relief, U.S. government spending on the disaster has nearly quadrupled to $379 million, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Wednesday. That's about $1.25 each from everyone in the United States.

Each American dollar roughly breaks down like this: 42 cents for disaster assistance, 33 cents for U.S. military aid, nine cents for food, nine cents to transport the food, five cents for paying Haitian survivors for recovery efforts, just less than one cent to the Haitian government, and about half a cent to the Dominican Republic.

The U.S. government money is part of close to $2 billion in relief aid flowing into Haiti ? almost all of it managed by organizations other than the Haitian government, which has been struggling to re-establish its authority since the quake. On Wednesday, a defensive President Rene Preval acknowledged his country's reputation for graft, but said aid money isn't lining the pockets of government officials.

"There's a perception of corruption, but I would like to tell the Haitian people that the Haitian government has not seen one penny of all the money that has been raised ? millions are being made on the right, millions on the left, it's all going to the NGOs (nongovernmental organizations)" Preval said, speaking in Creole at a news conference.

Relief experts say it would be a mistake to send too much direct cash to the Haitian government, which was already unstable before the quake and routinely included on lists of the world's most corrupt countries.

"I really believe Americans are the most generous people who ever lived, but they want accountability," said Timothy R. Knight, a former US AID assistant director who spent 25 years distributing disaster aid. "In this situation they're being very deliberate not to just throw money at the situation but to analyze based on a clear assessment and make sure that money goes to the best place possible."

Read more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100128/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_haiti_us_aid