The list shows the security sector and other agencies being allotted chunk of the money, while the communication aspect, which unfortunately is being led by the Ministry of Information leaves much to be desired.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as part of her government's commitment to contain the tropical disease which has left nearly 700 Liberian's dead here and much still infected announced the first US5 million, with the Legislature upping the amount to US$20 million days later.
However, despite repeated pronouncements by various global institutions, including the World Health Organization or WHO and other international partners that one of the best ways to fight this deadly tropical virus which up to present has no known cure is through massive awareness detailing preventive measures seems to have fallen on deaf ears at least as the allotment shows.
Even media institutions that continue to disseminate some of these messages have been left in the cold as their bills remained unpaid, leaving many to wonder how this Ebola money is being spent. Some citizens argued that they are yet to see the impact. The document titled the Government of Liberia National Task Force on Ebola Trust Fund Interim (Weekly) Financial Report, Week End August 22, 2014 shows the following allotments and disbursements up to date:
The Ministry of Internal Affairs with its Minister as the deputy chair of the Ebola Task Force is allotted US$1,114,211.00. (One million, one hundred and fourteen thousand, two hundred and eleven dollars) for the entire 90-day period for which the state of emergency has been imposed. Out of this amount a total of US484, 975.00 has been disbursed as at the period under review representing 43.5%.
The man who controls the ministry's allotment Mr. Varney Sirleaf told this paper Wednesday that the amount had been distributed amount the various counties to help support their Ebola fight initiatives. He has promised to make an available full expenditure to this paper. Second on the list of beneficiary institutions is the Ministry of Gender and Development with a total allotment of US33, 126.04 for the entire 90-days. Out of this amount, not a dime has been disbursed representing 0.0%
The Ministry of National Defense follows with US$1, 057,076.25, with its troops deployed around the country. Out of this amount US$352,358.75 has been disbursed representing 33.3%. Defense Assistant Minister for Public Affairs, David Dan, initially declined to comment on the figure, saying that he needed to consult with his boss, called back later to confirm the allotment and the amount disbursed so far.
Next on the list of beneficiaries is the Program Management (call center, logistics, fuel) with a total allotment of US$300,000.00, a total of US100,000 has been disbursed representing 33.3%. Note here that most of the staff at this call center are volunteers who have all signed waivers.
The Ministry of State follows with the allotment of US$325,000.00. Out of this amount a total of US$160,000.00 has been disbursed representing 49.2%. This paper is yet to obtain documents relating to line items detailing how the Ministry of State uses this fund.
The Ministry of Health, the agency at the center of the outbreak management has a total 90 days budget of US$29,283,572.82. Of this amount 2,288,959.93 representing 9.8%.
Note that health workers from the state run John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital and the Christian run ELWA Hospital early this week staged a strike action for what they described as the non-payment of endangered benefits.
The Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN) is next with a total allotment of US$436,195.00 of which US$357,445.00, representing 81% disbursement. The Liberian National Police or LNP follows with US$1, 721,781.00, out of which 346, 320.00 representing 20.1% has been spent. The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism or MICAT is the last on the list with a total budget of US$550,000.00; out of this an amount of US$17,500 representing 3.2% has been disbursed so far.
Officials at the Ministry of Information when this paper called initially declined that they had received any payment despite the Ebola weekly financial update showing that they had received the amount as far back as August 22..
However, a few hours later, one of the ministry's officials dropped a payment document at the New Dawn's office showing a document which indicate that MICAT was only notified that the 17,500 has been transferred into its account on Wednesday September 3, 2014.
Critics say the blind eye being play to the massive public awareness campaign about Ebola by the government has actually rear its ugly head as evidence as to the priority given to other sectors than communications.
This also further exposed the government as to how it has valued communication which is an essential tool to its own disadvantage. On Tuesday the US Ambassador here Madam Deborah Malac criticized the use of the army to put down angry protesters who were protesting against their community being quarantined. http://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12558:-ebola-money-who-gets-what&catid=25:politics&Itemid=59
