Katrina Redux: New Disaster, Same Contractors in Haiti http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2548-katrina-redux-new-disaster-same-contractors-in-haiti

Ben Fox of the AP reported earlier this week on foreign firms going to Haiti to try and capitalize on the long and expensive reconstruction process. One contractor, which we have written about previously is Ashbritt. Fox writes:Pompano Beach, Florida-based AshBritt Inc. so far has invested $25 million in its Haitian reconstruction operation covering a soccer field.Now all Perkins [the CEO of Ashbritt] needs is a government contract to make his investment pay off.

Fox notes that Ashbritt received some $900 million for debris removal following Hurricane Katrina, but does not point to the controversy that surrounded Ashbritt. As we wrote in early February:AshBritt found itself involved in controversy after Hurricane Katrina,

when "some questioned whether AshBritt's political donations or lobbyists paved the way for its fat federal contracts." The Miami Herald reports that these questions led to Congressional hearings which:[A]ired objections that local contractors were passed over in favor of AshBritt. A 2006 congressional report examining federal contract waste and abuse noted AshBritt used multiple layers of subcontractors, each of whom got paid while passing on the actual work to others.