Christoph
18-12-06, 22:47
Here is a revealing article about aid and corruption.
For more information about aid abuse read our interview with Writer/Director Joshua Holst (a9media.com) HERE (http://www.v-generations.com/v/content/view/83/18/)
COLOMBO - Corruption and ethnic violence is blocking a flood of foreign aid for Sri Lanka’s tsunami survivors two years after the massive disaster, according to official records and whistle-blowers.
President Mahinda Rajapakse admitted a year ago the country had failed to do enough to help the victims of the towering waves, but thousands of survivors still live in “tent villages” along the coast.
Sri Lanka, one of the worst hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami, lost an estimated 31,000 people while another million were left homeless, but the island also attracted 3.2 billion dollars in foreign aid pledges.
Out of the promised aid, it was not clear how much was received, but the state auditor general in September 2005 noted out of 1.16 billion dollars committed, only 13.5 percent had actually been spent.
Weliamuna said many NGOs wasted the money.
Aid workers paid themselves three times what their counterparts were getting in Sri Lanka’s better-paid private sector and lavished on sports utility vehicles and homes in the best areas of the country, according to officials.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/December/subcontinent_December610.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
For more information about aid abuse read our interview with Writer/Director Joshua Holst (a9media.com) HERE (http://www.v-generations.com/v/content/view/83/18/)
COLOMBO - Corruption and ethnic violence is blocking a flood of foreign aid for Sri Lanka’s tsunami survivors two years after the massive disaster, according to official records and whistle-blowers.
President Mahinda Rajapakse admitted a year ago the country had failed to do enough to help the victims of the towering waves, but thousands of survivors still live in “tent villages” along the coast.
Sri Lanka, one of the worst hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami, lost an estimated 31,000 people while another million were left homeless, but the island also attracted 3.2 billion dollars in foreign aid pledges.
Out of the promised aid, it was not clear how much was received, but the state auditor general in September 2005 noted out of 1.16 billion dollars committed, only 13.5 percent had actually been spent.
Weliamuna said many NGOs wasted the money.
Aid workers paid themselves three times what their counterparts were getting in Sri Lanka’s better-paid private sector and lavished on sports utility vehicles and homes in the best areas of the country, according to officials.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/December/subcontinent_December610.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=