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Thursday, November 30, 2006
Contractors, FEMA Still Bungling Hurricane Relief
Louisiana officials are fed up with a company contracted to administer a fund for rebuilding hurricane-damaged homes. The fund, called the Road Home Project, has $8 billion in it. But as of Wednesday last week, only 39 applicants had received anything from it- 8 weeks after the fund got up and running. Governor Blanco has given ICF -the contractor in charge of managing the fund- until the end of month to issue payments to at least 10,000 applicants.
Despite the slow pace, ICF can earn a maximum of $756 million on the project. Given the nearly 80,000 applicants, ICF could make around $9,000 on each grant!
The old adage "You get what you pay for" doesn't seem to apply here.
In other news, a federal judge ruled that FEMA wrongfully denied housing aid to tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims. The judget ordered that FEMA resume payments immediately, but how soon FEMA will comply is anybody's guess.
New Orleans City Business: ICF Seeks Road Home Fast Lane
The Washington Post: FEMA Told to Resume Storm Aid
Posted by Matt Lewis
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