Over three years after Katrina, the FEMA rebuilding effort still remains a disaster, with nearly $4 billion intended to rebuild the Gulf Coast remaining unspent. That's 68 percent of the $6 billion promised by FEMA.
This is leaving hundreds of projects, like a police station in New Orleans, and the Charity Hospital, waiting. Anonymous whistleblowers in the downtown New Orleans FEMA office say that how the distribution office is being run is a disaster unto itself.
According to a CBS report, three current employees in that office are making allegations of cronyism, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, intimidation and retaliation against the managers in the FEMA New Orleans office. In the last two months alone, nearly 80 employment-related complaints have been filed by staff at the office.
And in the last year, more than 30 complaints have been filed against one man - chief of staff Doug Whitmer - including charges of sexual harassment.
According to the whistleblowers, slowing down the recovery itself is exactly what senior managers at the New Orleans FEMA office want. What's in it for them? Apparently, an annual salary in excess of $100,000 and a fat pension-- for as long as they can keep the recovery project and the FEMA office open.
Gulf Coast resident shouldn't expect FEMA's recovery work to end here anytime soon. Employees say they've been told to expect it to go on for as long as 15 years.
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