Excellent article by Professor Quigley <
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0608/S00260.htm>
Some of his quotes excerpted here (not in order that they appear in his article):
Where Did the Money Go?
One hour in New Orleans shows the check must still be in the mail. Not a single dollar in federal housing rehab money has made it into a hand in Louisiana.
As Corpwatch says in their recent report, "Many of the same 'disaster profiteers' and government agencies that mishandled the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq are responsible for the failure of 'reconstruction' of the Gulf Coast region.
Water and Electricity
In the Lower Ninth Ward, the water has still not been certified as safe to drink - one year later.
Only half the homes in New Orleans have electricity.
Health and Health Care
Half the hospitals open before Katrina are still closed. The state's biggest public health care provider, Charity Hospital, remains closed and there are no current plans to reopen it anytime soon.
Jobs
Before Katrina, there were over 630,000 workers in the metropolitan New Orleans area - now there are slightly over 400,000. Over 18,000 businesses suffered "catastrophic" damage in Louisiana. Nearly one in four of the displaced workers is still unemployed. Education and health care have lost the most employees. Most cannot return because there is little affordable housing, child care, public transportation and public health care.
Public Education
Before Katrina, 56,000 students were enrolled in over 100 public schools in New Orleans. At the end of the school year there were only 12,500.As of July 1, not a single teacher had been hired for fifteen of the state-run schools. As of August 9, 2006, the Times-Picayune reported there are no staff at all identified to educate students with discipline problems or other educational issues that require special attention.
Criminal Legal System
Criminal Court District Judge Arthur Hunter has declared the current criminal justice system shameful and unconstitutional, and promises to start releasing inmates awaiting trial on recognizance bonds on the one-year anniversary of Katrina. In the suburbs across the lake, Sheriff Jack Strain told the media on TV that he was going to protect his jurisdiction from "thugs" and "trash" migrating from closed public housing projects in New Orleans. He went on to promise that every person who wore "dreadlocks or che-wee hairstyles" could expect to be stopped by law enforcement.
International Human Rights
The United Nations has blasted the poor US response to Katrina. The UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva accepted a report from Special Reporter Arjun Sengupta, who visited New Orleans in fall of 2005 and concluded: "The Committee ... remains concerned about information that poor people, and in particular African-Americans, were disadvantaged by the rescue and evacuation plans implemented when Hurricane Katrina hit the United States of America, and continue to be disadvantaged under the reconstruction plans."
Warnings to the Displaced
Local United Way officials see the lack of housing, health care and jobs and conclude that low-income people should seriously consider not returning to New Orleans anytime soon.
Bill is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. You can reach him at Quigley @ loyno.edu For more information see www.justiceforneworleans.org.
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