I note that the government has not yet developed a master plan for reconstruction. However, I am assured that the government is aware of the importance of such a plan, and I am told that it expects to submit the plan at a meeting of potential aid donors in Stockholm in May. I am further told that the government intends to address issues involving transparency and project management at the Stockholm meeting. It is a good sign that the government plans to hire both an accounting firm and a consulting firm to oversee project management and bids and evaluations. The reconstruction effort is too important to the future of this country to allow cronyism or corruption to slow or halt its progress. Both Mayor Larios and President Flores have stressed the importance of transparency in the reconstruction effort, and the need to impose heavy sanctions against parties who violate rules and procedures.
Hurricane season starts again in two months, and with it the potential for another disaster.
Included on the assessment team that visited here in January were officials with the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He noted that the country has in place comprehensive emergency plans, and has practiced them frequently. In that regard, you are ahead of some other countries in the region. They came up with a number of recommendations. Managers should be better trained, for instance.