Reply #31: trailers are temporary - still government waste

[Anita Garcia]

<http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/13387106.htm>

FEMA contracts for recovery do not allow for the provision of permanent housing. Or stated another way, FEMA does not provide permanent housing or repair of residents' homes, only the provision of temporary or "non-sustainable" housing.
FEMA through SBA also has contracts available for providing maintenance and "take-down" of trailers.

This is another irony of the Katrina/Iraq comparison. Domestically, the Administration will only provide non-sustainable temporary housing. On foreign soil, the contracts provide for sustainable or permanent housing and repair of residents' homes. "U.S. and Iraq officials "worked with Najaf's governor and other local officials to rebuild the local police force, repair residents' homes, refurbish schools, restore water and other essential service, reopen a soccer stadium, complete with new lights and fresh sod." " - Bush, Dec. 7, 2005.<http://www.aina.org/news/20051207124436.htm>

I wonder about these temporary trailers. Has FEMA ever provided these trailers before and if so, where are they now? For the Katrina/Rita disaster the SBA is about to award (I think on Dec. 15th) fifteen (15) 1.5 billion dollar contracts for maintenance and removal of FEMA trailers for Katrina/Rita victims. When I asked the SBA official at our summit about what happens to these trailers after they are removed, he said they will be stored for the next time they are needed.