The invisible government of Haiti (Update)

Last night and six months after the earthquake in Haiti, the
anonymous man was telling Anderson Cooper of 360 fame that anyone
wanting to distribute food or goods to the people of Haiti has to fill out
the appropriate papers.

That sounds easy enough. I do not know why simply filling out papers
was not more widely known. This morsel of information makes me
wonder if various charities and countries who are donating money
also have to simply fill out papers to have the money distributed? And
what about donations from individual donors?

Right after the earthquake, I saw the President of Haiti on television
one time. I never saw his wife, Minister of Defense, Minister of
Agriculture, Commissioner of Parks and Planning or other persons one
associates with a functioning government even if it has fallen on hard times. Is this by design or are they all camera shy? Is there optimism in seeing the Presidential Palace being re-built? Where are the President and his cabinet members residing?

You would think after such a disaster has befallen a country the faces
of its governing body would be as familiar to us as those of Sarah
Palin and Glenn Beck. Sad, and all this time I felt Anderson was doing
a good job. In my opinion, its time for a bit more optimism than we are getting. There is too much doom and gloom. Will the sun ever come out again in Haiti?

Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-SPAN and the spirits of the unborn for
the help,
BB
P.S. I have been forced to use Microsoft Works 4.0. Help is on the way!

(Update) The Political Roadblocks to Haiti's Reconstruction
By YVES ENGLER
Excerpt:
Immediately after the quake $10 billion in international aid was pledged. As of June 30 only 10 percent of the $2.5 promised for 2010 had been delivered. A lot of it has been held up in political wrangling. The international community – led by the US, France and Canada – demanded the Haitian parliament pass an 18-month long state of emergency law that effectively gave up government control over the reconstruction. Holding up the money was a pressure tactic designed to ensure international control of the Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti, authorized to spend billions.

And
These maneuvers were met by protest and widespread hostility in Haiti, which forced the international community to back off a little. Initially, a majority of seats on the Commission were to represent foreign governments and international financial institutions. That’s been reduced to half of the 26-member committee, but the money is still to be managed by the World Bank and other international institutions. Former US President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive co-chair the reconstruction commission, which met for the first time on June 17.
Read more at:
http://counterpunch.com/engler07162010.html