At Haitian port, desperately needed aid sits and sits and sits... - Haiti - MiamiHerald... - 0 views
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Water filtration tanks that would provide orphans with clean water during a cholera epidemic have been stuck at Haiti's main port since Nov. 22, hostage to customs red tape.
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Haiti's struggle to recover from last January's 7.0 earthquake has been hamstrung by a massive bottleneck at customs. To some, the culprit is corruption, and the solution is to grease the right palms to get products moving to their intended destinations.
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Haiti has a culture of bureaucratic inefficiency that has been overwhelmed by a tidal wave of incoming charitable goods. The government defends the delays, arguing that some alleged donations are actually intended for sale but disguised as aid by opportunists who hope to maximize profits by avoiding Haiti's enormous import fees.
