UNITED NATIONS, March 17, updated -- Bragging to Central American leaders about the UN's performance in post-earthquake Haiti on March 16, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that “by the end of this year we expect roughly half the rubble is being reused, recycled or disposed of an an increasing rate.”
At least this is what Ban's spokesperson's office e-mailed out to the Press at 6:56 pm on March 16.
Eight hours later at 3:10 am on March 17, Ban's office sent a new version of his Guatemala City remarks, this time portraying Ban has having said only that “The rubble is being reused, recycled or disposed of at an increasing rate.”
Did Ban's expectation for “roughly half the rubble” change overnight? The new version was labeled “amended,” as if Ban and his remarks were a Constitution or draft resolution such as the one on Libya Ban was missing during his Central American foray.
Earlier on March 16, Inner City Press had asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky for the UN's response to criticism published that day in The Lancet, saying that the UN had under-estimated Haitian cases of cholera by nearly 100%.
Both are just estimates, Nesirky replied reading from notes. So what was wrong about the estimate about “roughly half the rubble” that Ban reportedly said in Guatemala City? Watch this site.
Update: on the UN's panel on cholera in Haiti, and its causes, Inner City Press on March 16 asked Nesirky when the report will finally be ready, and if it will be public. Late March or early April, he said, and yes. We'll see.
Ban in another foray this year, to Los Angeles, did a "Facebook townhall meeting" about Haiti with the band Linkin Park in which cholera in Haiti and its causes were barely discussed.
In a recent interview, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park explained the session: "we got an email from the UN. They were asking if we wanted to do a meeting wiht the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon."
With Libya on fire, and Haiti under-estimated, who is Ban e-mailing now?
Update of March 18: When Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky to explain the amended transcript and, separately, the state the UN's expectation of when 50% of the rubble would be addressed, Nesirky said he would deal with this outside of the briefing room. After that, and not receiving an answer from Nesirky by email or otherwise for 24 hours, Inner City Press asked again at the March 18 noon briefing.
