Corruption concern as Katrina relief billions pour in

The outpouring of billions of dollars in federal relief money to victims of Hurricane Katrina is raising concerns about the risks of corruption and cronyism.

Already, no-bid contracts have been awarded to major Republican contributors including Kellogg, Brown & Root, the subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney's old company Halliburton. And President George W. Bush has unilaterally acted to make it possible for contractors to pay low wages to reconstruction workers.

Among provisions releasing more than US$60 billion ($85 billion) to the disaster area meanwhile, is a rise in the limit on Government-issued credit cards from US$25,000 to US$250,000. One Republican Senator, and the Democrats, have denounced this provision as outrageous and open to abuse.

Critics have been particularly disturbed by reports that Karl Rove, Bush's political brain who has no experience in disaster relief or urban planning, may be put in charge of the reconstruction effort.

The programme appears similar to the vast government programmes enacted in the 1930s to dig the US out of the Great Depression.

But the Bush Administration's favourite conservative think-tanks suggest it will be very different. The Heritage Foundation, for example, has proposed lifting environmental regulations and permitting private ownership of public school buildings in the disaster area.

- INDEPENDENT