THE growing controversy over the handling of donations for earthquake relief in Haiti by the American Red Cross is most unfortunate.

For, based on all we have read so far, the dispute seems to be driven by some amount of misunderstanding.

The controversy has been triggered by an investigation carried out by American media organisations NPR and ProPublica, which found repeated failures on the part of the American Red Cross to deliver on promises to help Haiti rebuild after that devastating January 2010 earthquake.

No one can forget the scale of the disaster from the magnitude 7.3 earthquake — more than 200,000 people dead, over 300,000 injured, at least 1.5 million people left homeless, and the general infrastructure in Port-au-Prince, the capital city, reduced to rubble.

As if all that were not enough, within a year the situation was made worse by tropical storms and an outbreak of cholera, blamed on United Nations peacekeepers, which claimed thousands more lives.

The American Red Cross, we are told, raised almost US$500 million in the aftermath of the quake as it set about its usual task of helping people in dire need.

But now, five years later, the American Red Cross is facing criticism as questions surround how those donations have been utilised.

We don’t get the sense that anyone is claiming that people connected to the charity siphoned off the donations.

What appears to have happened is the American Red Cross being hampered in its efforts by bureaucracy and its own inexperience in rebuilding, compared to its expertise in providing disaster relief.

So, for instance, while the Red Cross has said it provided houses to more than 130,000 Haitians, NPR and ProPublica are reporting that the charity has built only six houses.

A claim by the Red Cross on its website and in news releases that all the money was used to help 4.5 million Haitians “get back on their feet” has been questioned by former Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.

The NPR/ProPublica report quotes Mr Bellerive as saying: “We don’t have that population in the area affected by the earthquake.”

But Mr David Meltzer, the American Red Cross’ general counsel and head of its international division, has insisted that the organisation has helped millions of Haitians.

“The Red Cross has provided clean water, sanitation, vaccinations, disaster preparedness, cholera prevention. All of the money that has been spent has been focused on benefiting the people of Haiti,” the NPR/ProPublica report quotes him.

The charity has also pointed to projects it has funded over the years. However, according to NPR and ProPublica, it will not provide a list of specific programmes it ran, how much they cost, and their expenses.

In the United States, a call has been made for a Congressional hearing into the matter.

The Red Cross has said it is willing to talk with any member of the US House who has questions.

Hopefully, a Congressional hearing will settle this dispute, as the focus needs to remain on helping the Haitian people.