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Black Contractors in New Orleans Say They're Being Shut Out    [

    Anger, Sadness Mark Katrina Anniversary
    The Associated Press

    Wednesday 29 August 2007

    New Orleans - On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, anger over the stalled rebuilding was palpable Wednesday throughout the city where the mourning for the dead and feeling of loss doesn't seem to subside.

    Hurricane Katrina made landfall south of New Orleans at 6:10 a.m. Aug. 29, 2005, as a strong Category 3 hurricane that flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

    On Wednesday, protesters planned to march from the obliterated Lower 9th Ward to Congo Square, where slaves were once allowed to celebrate their culture. Accompanied by brass bands, they will again try to spread their message that the government has failed to help people return.

    "People are angry and they want to send a message to politicians that they want them to do more and do it faster," said the Rev. Marshall Truehill, a Baptist pastor and community activist. "Nobody's going to be partying."

    At New Orleans' Charity Hospital, a 21-story limestone hospital adorned with allegorical reliefs, public officials will attend a somber groundbreaking for a victims' memorial and mausoleum that will house the remains of more than 100 victims who have still not been identified.

    "It's an emotional time. You relive what happened and you remember how scattered everyone is now. There are relationships now that are completely over," said Robert Smallwood, a local writer. "The city has been dying this slow death. In New Orleans, you can't escape it. It's bad news everyday."

    In Mississippi, Gov. Haley Barbour saw progress. He said Wednesday in Gulfport that about 13,000 of his state's families are still living in FEMA trailers, down from a peak of 48,000, and he expects they could all be out of the temporary housing in a year.

    "We made a huge amount of progress," Barbour told NBC's "Today" show. "The character of Mississippi was revealed and it was very positive."

    New Orleans churches planned memorial services, including one at the historic St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square, and ring bells in honor of the victims. People throughout the city will hold their own private ceremonies to remember where they were when Katrina hit, and what they lost.

    "Everyone who gives it any thought, and I can't imagine who hasn't, has to reflect on his or her own personal experience during that time, and also look at how far we've come," said Larry Lorenz, a journalism professor at Loyola University in New Orleans.

    A candlelight vigil is scheduled in Jackson Square at dusk, right around the time the French Quarter may start getting tipsy with street parties and anniversary revelers, as happened last year.

    The anniversary is an opportunity for the city to recapture media attention to tell the nation what's happened to New Orleans since Katrina. Reporters, television crews and photographers have, once again, flocked to the city.

    The day has also attracted a passel of politicians - President Bush chief among them. He and Laura Bush arrived Tuesday night and dined with Leah Chase, the Queen of Creole cooking, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and musician Irvin Mayfield.

    Several presidential contenders, including Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have visited in recent days.

    While politicians have used the anniversary to pitch policy, think tanks, scholars and activists have released a steady stream of reports on the state of recovery.

    Meanwhile, an international people's tribunal has been convened to take testimony from victims. The tribunal is being spearheaded by legal activists trying to build a case under international law accusing the United States of human rights abuses during and after Katrina.

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    Black Contractors Say They're Excluded
    WDSU

    Wednesday 20 August 2007

    New Orleans - Black contractors who claim they've been frozen out of New Orleans' rebuilding are calling on Congress and federal prosecutors to investigate the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

    At a news conference, the local chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors said federal agencies continue to dole out billions of dollars to large corporations. The group also said it might resort to protests to get its message out.

    Crosby Construction, in Partnership with Smart Inc., a consulting firm, put in a bid to the Amy Corps to receive part of the $75 million the Corps had offered to minority contractors.

    The bid was for demolition and debris removal of residential homes in Orleans Parish, but Crosby didn't get the contract.

    The president of Smart Inc. said the Corps claimed the company wasn't capable of doing the job.

    "We are capable of doing it because we have formed a partnership, a local partnership with small businesses that have the equipment, the personnel, the people and the bonding to get the job done," Smart Inc.'s Brenda Williams said.

    But because Crosby and Smart Inc. didn't get the contract, about $5.5 million worth of construction equipment just sat around for six months, Lavernie Crosby said.

    "It affects me financially that I've gone out and borrowed all this money and brought it here for the people, and it's not being used," Crosby said.

    Since Hurricane Katrina hit two years ago, the group said the Corps of Engineers has awarded only 1 percent of its work to minority contractors.

    Kathy Gibbs, a Corps spokeswoman in New Orleans, disagreed, saying that the Corps has an excellent record of working with minority contractors.

    According to the group, the Corps' $75 million worth of contracts would have brought $200 million into the local economy.

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    The Associated Press contributed.