The money is flowing through federal agencies that administer $2.6 billion already appropriated in the 2010 budget for foreign disaster relief.
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.
Twoweeks after President Obama announced an initial $100 million for Haitiearthquake relief, U.S. government spending on the disaster has nearlyquadrupled to $379 million, the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment announced Wednesday. That’s about $1.25 each from everyonein the United States.
Each American dollarroughly breaks down like this: 42 cents for disaster assistance, 33cents for U.S. military aid, nine cents for food, nine cents totransport the food, five cents for paying Haitian survivors forrecovery 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 aidflowing into Haiti — almost all of it managed by organizations otherthan the Haitian government, which has been struggling to re-establishits authority since the quake. On Wednesday, a defensive President Rene Preval acknowledged his country’s reputation, but said aid money isn’t lining the pockets of government officials.