Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe [file]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) – Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe could not explain the use of 5 billion gourdes ($120 million [US]) of Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Isaac emergency funding from the public treasury. Despite more than a weeks time of preparation, the Head of the Haitian government and four other ministers appeared before the Senate Finance Committee with nothing to report.

On Monday December 3rd, the Senate Finance Committee notified five ministers of a hearing to report on projects achieved since announcing a state of emergency in Haiti and vacating more than $120 million US from the public treasury. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, also the Minister of Planning, the Minister of Finance, Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie, the Minister of the Interior, Ronsard Saint-Cyr, the Minister of Public Works, Transportation and Communication, and the Environment, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development.

10 days later, on Thursday, December 13. neither member of the administration was able to report on how the $120 million US was spent.

President Michel Martelly, his family, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, and ministers of the government spent 31 of 40 days of the State of Emergency status outside of the nation.

Callers to Haitian radio stations speculate that the Martelly team traveled this much in the month of November collecting more than $3.5 million [US] in travel per diems and stashing it away in foreign banks.

The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled another hearing with the five ministers for the first working day of the next legislative session beginning January 14.