Tons of food aid rotting in Haiti ports

[isilzha]

Tons of food aid rotting in Haiti ports

By JONATHAN M. KATZ and JENNIFER KAY, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 46 minutes ago

While millions of Haitians go hungry, containers full of food are stacking up in the nation's ports because of government red tape — leaving tons of beans, rice and other staples to rot under a sweltering sun or be devoured by vermin.
A government attempt to clean up a corrupt port system that has helped make Haiti a major conduit for Colombian cocaine has added new layers of bureaucracy — and led to backlogs so severe they are being felt 600 miles away in Miami, where cargo shipments to Haiti have ground almost to a standstill.
The problems are depriving desperate people of donated food. Some are so poor they are forced to eat cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable oil to satisfy their hunger.
An Associated Press investigation found the situation is most severe in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city. One recent afternoon, garbage men shoveled a pile of rotting pinto beans that had turned gray and crumbled to dust as cockroaches and beetles scurried about.
The men had found the putrid cargo by following a stench through stacked shipping containers to one holding 40,000 pounds of beans. It had been in port since November.
"So many times, by the time (the food) gets out of customs it's expired and we're forced to burn it," said Susie Scott Krabacher, whose Colorado-based Mercy and Sharing Foundation has worked in Haiti for 14 years. "The food is there. It is available. It just can't get to the people."
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[BerryBaby]

That was a strange statement..."The food is there. It is available. It just can't get to the people." If it were available, wouldn't it then 'get to the people'?
It should probably say, "The food is there, but isn't available."

That's a very sad situation.

[Food Network Fan]

Unfortunately that isn't a place that has a great record for humanitarian efforts from within. Most all comes from outside.

Another sad part that could come is that if they do start giving it out they might go ahead and give them rancid items.

[BerryBaby]

So, why do they keep on sending tons of food if all it does and sit and rot?

[Food Network Fan]

I dunno.

[bakerman]

That is really sad. Haiti is the poorest country in the world. I have been on a couple of cruises that called on Labadee Haiti, Royal Caribbean's private beach stop (a very short distance from Cap-Haitien), it was beautiful, but for me it was overshadowed by the poverty that I knew was beyond those compound type walls, I was in a little area of lavish abundance surrounded by people who struggle just to eat.

Sad, just sad.

MAC