by Tim Reid,
The Independent
[London, UK]
Sept. 29, 2005
An investigation began yesterday into the Bush Administration’s payment of $236 million (£133 million) to rent three cruise ships to house victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The payment means that every week each evacuee on the three ships, which now sit more than half empty in the Mississippi River, costs taxpayers more than twice the cost of a seven-day Caribbean cruise.
The six-month contract, awarded to Carnival Cruise Lines without a competitive bidding process, is the latest of dozens now under investigation by government auditors amid claims of price hiking and political favoritism.
On Capitol Hill yesterday government auditors from six federal agencies told a congressional committee that hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts were being investigated, particularly those alleged to have been awarded to companies with ties to the White House and Republican Party.
The cruise line contract appears to have been made in the panic that gripped the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the chaos after Katrina struck, rather than a case of political payback.
Republicans and Democrats expressed disbelief at the price yesterday. Tom Coburn, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, calculated that if the ships were full, with 7,116 evacuees, for six months, the price per evacuee would be $1,275 a week. A seven-day Caribbean cruise could be bought for $599 a person.
The inspector general of the Homeland Security Department announced this week that he was investigating how several companies were awarded contracts.
The largest contract so far awarded -- $568 million for debris removal -- went to a Florida company with ties to the Republican Governor of Mississippi.
More than 80 per cent of the $1.5 billion of contracts already signed were awarded without bidding, or under limited competition.
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by Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post
Sept. 29, 2005
As tens of thousands of desperate people packed the New Orleans Superdome and convention center after hurricane Katrina struck, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency pleaded with the US Military Sealift Command.
The Government needed 10,000 berths on full-service cruise ships, FEMA said on September 1, and it needed the deal done by noon the next day.
The hasty appeal two days after Katrina hit yielded one of the most controversial contracts of the hurricane relief operation -- a $236 million agreement with Carnival Cruise Lines for three ships that now bob more than half-empty in the Mississippi River and Mobile Bay.
The six-month contract -- defended by Carnival but castigated by politicians -- has come to exemplify the cost of haste that followed Katrina's strike and FEMA's lack of preparation.
To critics, the price is exorbitant. If the ships were full with 7116 evacuees for six months, the price per evacuee would total $1,275 a week, according to calculations by aides to Republican senator Tom Coburn.
A seven-day Caribbean cruise from the Gulf Coast port of Galveston costs $599 a person -- including entertainment and the cost of making the ship move.
"When the Federal Government would actually save millions of dollars by forgoing the status quo and actually sending evacuees on a luxurious six-month cruise, it is time to rethink how we are conducting oversight," Senator Coburn said, calling for a chief financial officer to oversee Katrina spending. "A short-term, temporary solution has turned into a long-term, grossly overpriced, sweetheart deal for a cruise line."
As originally published
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Fluor Corporation of California, and Bechtel National big donors to the Republican Party, have also been awarded contracts to provide temporary housing.
Meanwhile, the finger-pointing over who was responsible for the disaster in New Orleans turned increasingly bitter.
On Tuesday Michael Brown, the former head of FEMA who resigned after being heavily criticized for his poor performance, told a congressional panel investigating the catastrophe that Ray Nagin, the New Orleans Mayor, and Kathleen Blanco, the Louisiana Governor, were largely to blame.
Ms Blanco, who appeared before the same panel yesterday, said: “Such falsehoods and misleading statements, made under oath before Congress, are shocking.”
As originally published
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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Aug. 29, 2005:
As Katrina strikes, FEMA urges first-responders not to respond
Sept. 2, 2005:
Who is this incompetent doofus running FEMA?
by Rachel R., Unknown News
Sept. 2, 2005:
Emergency crews turned back by FEMA:
They lacked "the required paperwork"
Sept. 2, 2005:
FEMA won't allow airboats to rescue Katrina victims
Sept. 2, 2005:
Troops sent to New Orleans for "combat operation"
with comments by Rebecca and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
FEMA chief had to be 'asked to resign' from previous job with horse club
Sept. 3, 2005:
FEMA turned back 500-boat rescue flotilla
Sept. 3, 2005:
Bush declares "zero tolerance" for New Orleans
survivors seeking food and water
Sept. 3, 2005:
Thousands of New Orleans refugees held at gunpoint,
not allowed to leave growing hell of Superdome
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
Homeland Security stops Red Cross from bringing food for New Orleans
with comments by Sir J and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
Police official says Nat'l Guardsmen 'played cards' amid New Orleans chaos
Sept. 4, 2005:
Red tape keeps hundreds of doctors from helping hurricane survivors
Sept. 4, 2005:
Homeland Security Chief says New Orleans disaster couldn't have been predicted
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 4, 2005:
College sophomores used fake press passes to circumvent FEMA's rescue roadblocks
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 4, 2005:
Navy hospital & water purification ship anchored on nearby coast, underused
Sept. 4, 2005:
FEMA turns down water, fuel for New Orleans, cuts area's emergency communication line
Sept. 5, 2005:
FEMA "dragging its feet" as businesses try to help hurricane, flood victims
Sept. 5, 2005:
Firefighters waited five days for FEMA's OK to enter New Orleans, then gave up, returned to Houston
Sept. 6, 2005:
Now is the time for pointing fingers
by John M., Unknown News
Sept. 6, 2005:
No food drops planned for New Orleans
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 6, 2005:
U.S. military smuggled white vacationers out of New Orleans Superdome squalor
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 6, 2005:
As New Orleans waits, FEMA sends firefighters to seminar, assigns them to hand out fliers
Sept. 6, 2005:
New Orleans during the disaster:
Police lied to survivors, blocked escape from city
by Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky, EMS NetworkFrom inside New Orleans as the crisis worsened, these survivors found that the authorities were never any help, and often an ugly enemy. =H&HH= | LINK
Sept. 6, 2005:
FEMA head specifically ordered lackadaisical response to "near catastrophic" Hurricane Katrina
Sept. 7, 2005:
International offers of help came immediately, but U.S. approval was delayed by days
Sept. 7, 2005:
FEMA's top-level management stacked with Bush's cronies
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 7, 2005:
Navy pilots reprimanded for rescuing huricane victims
Sept. 8, 2005:
FEMA contractors arrested for looting
with comments by Underground Panther in the Sky
Sept. 8, 2005:
Katrina survivors "evacuated" at the point of a gun
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 8, 2005:
Canadian search-and-rescue team first to reach New Orleans suburb
Sept. 9, 2005:
"Mission accomplished" in New Orleans
by Harry Highwater, Unknown News
Sept. 9, 2005:
Homeowners' guns confiscated in New Orleans, police threaten evacuation by force
with comments by Sir J and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 10, 2005:
FEMA sent back German plane carrying fifteen tons of food for hurricane victims
Sept. 11, 2005:
"Area's power restoration was set back days"
In devastated Mississippi town, Cheney made restoring oil pipeline's pumping power "a presidential directive"
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 11, 2005:
New Orleans doctors had to kill their patients
Sept. 11, 2005:
Sheriff threatens to arrest FEMA officials
Countermands FEMA order that stores remain closed
Sept. 11, 2005:
Bush signs executive order lowering wages across Katrina-devastated areas
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 12, 2005:
Drug Enforcement Agency plays key role in door-to-door searches of New Orleans homes
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 12, 2005:
Racist police blocked bridge and forced evacuees back at gunpoint
with comments by Chris M. and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 13, 2005:
Chertoff delayed federal response to Katrina disaster, memo shows
Sept. 13, 2005:
As bodies are recovered, reporters are threatened: 'No photos, no stories'
Sept. 14, 2005:
Feds delayed Nat'l Guard's hurricane response for days
Sept. 16, 2005:
Truckloads of ice for Katrina victims trucked everywhere except to victims
Sept. 16, 2005:
Mayor of Gretna says “whole community” backs bridge-blocking racist police
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 16, 2005:
Doctor says FEMA ordered him to stop treating hurricane victims
Sept. 19, 2005:
Bush OKs racial, other discrimination in rebuilding of shattered Gulf Coast
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 20, 2005:
New Orleans homes searched by "task force" after residents have been evacuated
with comments by Bruce, Rebecca, and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 23, 2005:
FEMA subcontracted evacuation buses, ignored bus-owners' group's offers of help
Sept. 28, 2005:
FEMA's $236-million deal with Carnival Cruise Lines
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