With $1 billion wasted, more Katrina abuse yet to emerge

[Christoph]

WASHINGTON - The tally for Hurricane Katrina waste could top $2 billion next year because half of the lucrative government contracts valued at $500,000 or greater for cleanup work are being awarded without little competition.
Federal investigators have already determined the Bush administration squandered $1 billion on fraudulent disaster aid to individuals after the 2005 storm. Now they are shifting their attention to the multimillion dollar contracts to politically connected firms that critics have long said are a prime area for abuse.

In January, investigators will release the first of several audits examining more than $12 billion in Katrina contracts. The charges range from political favoritism to limited opportunities for small and minority-owned firms, which initially got only 1.5 percent of the total work.

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For more go to:

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=173848

[Christoph]

Millions in Katrina Aid Still Available

Friday January 19, 2007 1:31 AM


By DOUG SIMPSON

Associated Press Writer

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin often complains about how slowly his city gets federal hurricane recovery money, but a state official said Thursday that nearly $600 million is available - if only Nagin would request it.

New Orleans and the city's agencies have received nearly $300 million of the recovery money promised by FEMA - 96 percent of the $311 million that the city has formally requested since Hurricane Katrina struck 16 months ago, according to data released by the state homeland security office, which distributes the money.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6355817,00.html