USAID gave seven of the 10 largest contracts for operations in Haiti to Chemonics International, a for-profit provider that Mr. Johnson says is the largest USAID contractor in the world. Chemonics’s two largest projects in Haiti include the WINNER Project and the Office of Transitions Initiative, which Mr. Johnson describes as “the more political arm of USAID.”
The project was designed to provide aid to countries afflicted by natural disasters or political turmoil, and following the earthquake it immediately provided disaster relief for displaced Haitians.
Nonetheless, the public is unable to ascertain how Chemonics spent the vast majority of its multi-million-dollar contracts in Haiti due to USAID’s lack of oversight reports.
“The [USAID] inspector-general found that Chemonics regularly runs short of its goals and over its budget,” Mr. Johnson says. “This is typical, but it’s become particularly evident in Haiti because of the earthquake.”