Kryetari i bashkisë së Nju Orleans Ray Nagin

Kryetari i bashkisë së Nju Orleans ka njoftuar se gjatë dy javëve të ardhshme do të ketë shkurtime për rreth gjysmën e personelit të bashkisë. Zoti Ray Nagin tha se nuk kishte të ardhura të mjaftueshme për mbajtjen e disa vendeve të punës për shkak të dëmit të shkaktuar nga uragani Katrina. Alistair Leithead njofton:

Dëgjo lajmin

Mayor Ray Nagin said it was with great sadness that he was forced to sack three thousand people who worked for the city. New Orleans was not able to obtain sufficient funds, the official statement said, pointing out that the request for money had been put into the state and the federal government. Those city workers not contacted to return to work, it added, should consider themselves part of the lay off.

Meanwhile the house to house search for bodies has been brought to an end with the death toll in Louisiana standing at more than nine hundred and seventy. A private company will now assume responsibility for any other reports of bodies being found. The total number of dead, around one thousand two hundred, including those in Mississippi, is considerably lower than the figure of ten thousand talked about in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Tens of thousands of people are still homeless living in shelters, hotels or other accommodation across America. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has been criticised for not getting evacuees into more permanent housing quickly enough. Trailer parks are being established to home those most in need.

Alistair Leithead, BBC News, New Orleans

Dëgjo fjalët

to sack
pushoj, heq (nga puna)

not able to obtain sufficient funds
nuk mund të gjej fonde të mjaftueshme

pointing out
duke e bërë të qartë

the lay off
pushim, shkarkim (nga puna)

brought to an end
i dha fund

the death toll
numri i përgjithshëm i të vdekurve

assume responsibility for
marr nën kontroll

the immediate aftermath
pasojat e menjëhershme

evacuees
të shpërngulur, të evakuuar