General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Clinton-Bush Fund has closed up shop in Haiti: Here are the fruits of neoliberal "charity" [View all]Beacool
(30,523 posts)A major frustration for watchdogs of the U.S. effort is a lack of transparency over how the millions of dollars are being spent.
From interviews to records requests, efforts to track spending in Haiti by members of Congress, university researchers and news organizations have sometimes been met with resistance and even, in some cases, outright refusals.
As a result, U.S. taxpayers are told they've agreed to spend $7.2 million for a project to design and distribute cleaner cooking stoves to 10,000 street vendors and 800 schools and orphanages, but there's no public accounting for how that will break down: How much might each stove cost? What are the office expenses? What are workers' salaries?
"The lack of specific details in where the money has gone facilitates corruption and waste, creates a closed process that reduces competition and prevents us from assessing the efficacy of certain taxpayer-funded projects," said Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, a New York Democrat whose district includes the second largest population of Haitian immigrants in the country.
You seem to be blaming Clinton and Bush for not being able to rebuild the country. I blame the endemic corruption of its government.