Emir of Qatar shocked to see very little done after donating over $95 million dollars to New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina.
NEW ORLEANS — One of the world’s richest men toured one of America’s poorest cities on Tuesday, a whistle-stop visitor from a distant land come to see his good works in a place still needing a stranger’s kindness.
After Hurricane Katrina, the emir of Qatar donated $100 million to the Gulf region, intended to help rebuild housing, hospitals and schools. But the effect of his visit to New Orleans on Tuesday seemed muted, as two universes peered at each other through the dark smoked glass of his motorcade.
It was through that filter that the genial, burly emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, saw the unhealed landscape of the Lower Ninth Ward, touring the scarred lots in a police-guided caravan of luxury vans and cars as the few people out in the spring sunshine stared blankly back at the opaque windows. Open-mouthed astonishment registered on some of the faces at street level.
The emptiness of the streets had affected him, the emir said, as it does many visitors. "I really wish to see some people come back to their homes," he said, with a bit of sadness. Brightening, he added, "I was happy to see some homes being built."
*insert Howard Dean scream here*
5 years ago
