Presidential

Haiti: Presidency Admits Diaspora Tax is Not Funding Free Education

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) – The National Palace thanked the international community on Thursday for providing aid which have allowed 903,000 children to receive free education in Haiti. Meanwhile questions remain about the National Fund for Education (FNE).

Many have been misled to believe that an estimated $8.5 million [US]/month being collected through a, deemed-illegal, tax on phone calls and money transfers would be used to make education free in Haiti; the National Fund for Education it would be called.

A communication from the National Palace on Friday would admit that these monies collected mostly from the Haitian Diaspora are not being used to fund free education in Haiti.

The communication listed the development projects that have begun under the Martelly administration that are supported by international donors that pledged billions in support in March of 2010 at a meeting at the United Nations in New York .

The President of the Republic has its first report on the major activities undertaken with gifts the world has offered to Haiti and are being implemented by the Government.

The Haitian Government is grateful for donations and expressions of support received by Haiti from over 140 countries, civil society organizations, private companies and multilateral institutions such as the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), and efforts the humanitarian sector and the commitment of funds to improve the process of debris removal and reconstruction.

This report includes details on grants and payments incurred by the ten largest donor after the last international donors' conference for Haiti held in New York.

Top 10 Donors Chart

Projects developed by the administration of President Joseph Michel Martelly (May 2011), thanks to international aid since the inauguration:

• 903,000 children received free education (1.25 million);
• Construction of 3,400 houses, 400 will be delivered in the next 100 days;
• As part of Project 16 / 6, six camps of homeless people will be relocated in 16 new districts. Over 150,000 people will benefit from the project. In the coming weeks, 40,000 people will leave their tents in the open air at the Champ de Mars, near the National Palace, to be relocated in the new quarters.
• Start of work on industrial park of Caracol, the largest free zone built on 246 hectares.
• A massive campaign to promote the activities of sanitation and hygiene and waste management in the metropolitan area.
• Reopening of the largest flour manufacturing industry of Haiti "Moulins d'Haiti", generating over 500 jobs and producing over 1,200 tons of flour per day.
• The development of various activities to attract investment in various sectors:
v Biarritz Forum RépubliqueDominicaine.
v The format of the Clinton Global Initiative
v Week Dutour.
v Week Reconstruction.
v Week Good Governance.
v Seminar on the energy sector in Haiti.
v Diaspora Business Day in New York

Haitians still require transparency for what is being done with the National Fund for Education. In a press conference before leaving for Nicaragua on Tuesday President Michel Martelly said he could not give information on the fund.

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