One cent of every dollar goes to Haiti’s government

ONLY one cent of each dollar the US is spending on earthquake relief in Haiti is going in the form of cash to the Haitian government, according to an Associated Press.

Less than two weeks after President Obama announced an initial $100 million for Haiti earthquake relief, US government spending on the disaster has tripled to $317m at latest count. That’s just over $1 each from everyone in the United States.

Relief experts say it would be a mistake to send too much direct cash to the Haitian government, which is in disarray and has a history of failure and corruption.

The AP review of federal budget spreadsheets, procurement reports and contract databases shows the vast majority of US funds going to established and tested providers, who are getting everything from 40-cent pounds of pinto beans to a $3.4m barge into the disaster zone.

“We are trying to respond as quickly as we can to this catastrophe of biblical proportions by mustering all of the resources that the United States government can bring to bear, first on rescue leading into relief, which is where we are right now, and hopefully seamlessly into recovery,” said Lewis Lucke, US special coordinator for relief and reconstruction.

Of each US taxpayer dollar, 40 cents is going to the US military, paying for security, search and rescue teams, and the Navy’s hospital ship USNS Comfort.

Another 36 cents funds US AID’s disaster assistance — everything from $5,000 generators to $35 hygiene kits with soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste for a family of five.

Just over a dime has already been spent on food: 122 million pounds of pinto beans, black beans, rice, corn soy blend and vegetable oil. When purchased in bulk, the actual food prices are relatively low.

Getting the food to Haitians — paying for freighters, trucks and distribution centres, and the people to staff them, took another 10.5 cents from each dollar.

Initial disaster spending was aimed at saving lives; now the spending is shifting to recovery. The Obama administration wants to put about 1.5 cents of each dollar directly into Haitian quake survivors’ hands by paying them to work.

One cent of each dollar is going straight to the shattered Haitian government, whose president is sleeping in a tent while struggling to organise an administration that was notoriously unstable even before the earthquake.