Hopes of “building back better”—with transparency—yet to be realized

Cross-posted at Haiti Rewired

A recent AP report finds that despite promises to “build back better” in Haiti after the Jan. 2010 earthquake, the “fruits of an ambitious, $1.8 billion U.S. reconstruction promise are hard to find.” The report draws on information uncovered via a Freedom of Information Act request.

It notes that “less than 12 percent of the reconstruction money sent to Haiti after the earthquake has gone toward energy, shelter, ports or other infrastructure,” and that half of the $1.8 billion pledged by the United States still sits in the Treasury, partly due to understaffing at the U.S. Embassy and the length of time it took for the Haitian government to begin functioning again after the earthquake. The AP also reports that almost a quarter of the nearly $1 billion spent so far went toward debt relief, but the Haitian government has since borrowed $657 million more, largely for oil imports.

One part of the piece focuses on the lack of transparency about where U.S. reconstruction funding has gone, a topic lamented in the media and by researchers since reconstruction began.

In its own effort to follow the money, this year the AP began contacting firms that have received U.S. funding since the earthquake. A memo went out two weeks later.

“A series of requests from journalists may come your way,” cautioned Karine Roy, a spokeswoman for the USAID, in an email to about 50 humanitarian aid officials. “Wait for formal clearance from me before releasing any information.”

U.S. contractors, from pollsters to private development firms, told the AP that USAID had asked them not to provide any information, and referred to publicly released descriptions of their projects.

Find the entire report here, which includes more information about lack of transparency in reconstruction and why the process is taking longer than some onlookers expected.

Photo via flickr user Todd Huffman