UN
Swing
Space Blazes in Earth Hour, Fake Recycling Typifies Ban's UN
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 27 -- While the lights were turned out in the empty United
Nations
Secretariat building for “Earth Hour” on the night of March 26,
office and entrance lights were blazing in the nearby buildings where
the UN's work is actually done these days.
During
its
multi-year Capital Master Plan renovation, the UN has leased office
space a block away on 42nd Street and Second Avenue, dubbed the
“Luggage Building” or “Above the Liquor Store” for two of the
ground floor co-tenants, the Albano Building on 46th Street between
First and Second Avenues and elsewhere.
Between
9 and
9:30 pm on March 26, high Earth Hour while even New York's Times
Square was largely dimmed, the Albano Building was lit up as on any
other night. More visibly, out on a much traveled corner of 42nd
Street, the UN's Luggage Building had many of its lights on.
The
same was true
at the UN's “FF Building” on 45th Street, and at 1, 2 and 3 UN
Plaza on 44th Street, headquarters to, among others, UNICEF and the
UN Development Program.
This
is by no
means the only way in which the UN under Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon has failed to follow through on the Ban's loudly stated
environmental claims, UN staff tells Inner City Press often on
condition of anonymity, for fear of retaliation.
Earlier
this month
after being approached by numerous whistleblowers, Inner City Press
asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky for a response to staff
complaints that while the garbage in the UN's Luggage Building is
separated for recycling, eventually it is all mixed back together and
not recycled.
UN Plaza on 1st Ave during Earth Hour, (c) MRLee
From the UN's
own transcript of March 18, 2011 (for what the UN did not
transcribe, click here
for video) --
Inner
City
Press: this may seem like a small thing, but the, the several UN
staff members that work in what is called the Luggage Building, or
whatever it is now being called on 42nd and Second have said that
they have concluded after speaking to the Green Focal Point,
etcetera, that there is no recycling in the building; that they put
the recycling, that they are asked by the UN to put them in separate
blue containers and that ultimately everything is put together and
dumped. And they have said that they have raised this and have been
told that the UN can’t do anything about it. I wonder, I mean, am
not expecting you may be to respond from the podium, but they are
pretty, they see it as sort of hypocrisy, and I just wonder, maybe,
may you or whoever responds to these things can find out if that is
the case and if so why it is acceptable?
Spokesperson:
Well, let me look into that. I think it is in everybody’s
interest to ensure that the recycling is available. Yeah.
Inner
City
Press: [inaudible] sort of making it appear that it was
[inaudible].
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
As I said, as I said, I would need to look into it to find
out what is behind this, if anything, and secondly, the main
principle here is that recycling is obviously in everybody’s
interest. Right, other questions? then I’ll come back to you,
Matthew.
Inner
City
Press: Okay.
But
more than a week later,
Nesirky has yet to provide any response or information. The same
stonewalling has been applied to higher profile issues like Ban's
envoy to Libya Abdul Ilah Al Khatib being allowed to violate
longstanding UN rules and the UN Charter by receiving pay from
Jordan's government while ostensibly serving the UN.
A
fish rots from
the head: and then doesn't get recycled, in today's UN. Watch this
site.
Footnote: While
Ban's Office of the Spokesperson has refused to provide any
information, even telling Inner City Press that its questions will not
be answered, Inner City Press has gleened that UN defenders blame the
recycling scam on the landlord and / or sanitation contractors.
But why
wasn't recyclying provided for in the UN's contract? Similarly in the
UN cafeteria there is extensive use, even for sit down meals, of
aluminum and plastic containers. The list goes on. Watch this site.
* * *
UN
Now
Says Envoy to Libya Khatib Still Has Responsibilities in Jordan, His
Contract
In Flux Amid Conflicts
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 25 -- After dodging repeated questions
about whether
UN envoy to Libya Abdul Ilah Al Khatib is still paid by Jordan,
where
he is a Senator, when Inner City Press again asked the question on
March 25, Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said that “the terms of his
contract are still being worked out... he still has some
responsibilities in Jordan.”
To
some, this
implies that contrary to UN charter and rules, Khatib is at the same
being paid by and serving a particular government and the UN.
Significantly, in Jordan this week water cannons were deployed on
protests, leading to the death of at least one protester.
Beyond
the
financial conflicts of interest, including Khatib being a director of
Jordan Ahli Bank which is a co top 20 owners of Union de Banques
Arabes et Francaises with Libya Foreign Bank, 100% owned by Gaddafi's
Libya Central Bank, why would Secretary General Ban Ki-moon choose as
his envoy to Libya the former foreign minister of a country his own
advisers describe as an autocracy, which is itself now killing
protesters?
Ban & al-Khatib, Jordan pay not shown, Q of
Chile housing not answered
Haq
also on March
25 said that the decision about what political moves are acceptable
to the UN in Libya will be up to Khatib. “Talk about the fox
guarding the chicken house,” remarked one wag. The questions will
continue to be asked.
From
the UN's March
25 transcript:
Inner
City
Press: on the envoy, yesterday Martin [Nesirky] had said, it’s
been going around for a couple of days, is… whether Mr. [Abdul
Ilah] Khatib, what is his status with the UN? Is he a USG
[Under-Secretary-General]? Is he a staff member? And is he still
being paid by the Government of Jordan? It seemed like it shouldn’t
be that difficult to get yes or no answers to those three.
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson Haq: Well, part of the thing is, because of the
speed with which we felt the need to appoint an envoy, some of the
terms of his contract are still being worked out. So I don’t have
any firm answers about the nature of his contract to give right now,
because that is being worked out with him. He does have some
responsibility still in Jordan, as well as his position here with us.
What ARE those responsibilities in, and payments from,
Jordan? Watch this site.
, 
