After the Hurricane and Super Storm Sandy many of the federal relief efforts, like FEMA, were brought in and allowed to cut through bureaucracy and red tape to deliver the goods. In the trucking industry, the Department of Transportation, gave waivers on all trucks due to the 'hours of service rules'. This meant that truck drivers could drive more than eight hours at one time. The rescue relief efforts had to do this or they could get supplies and, things like fuel for the gas stations. Often the trucks had to be rerouted, which took up huge amounts of time even though they may only be traveling a few hundred miles.
What many people don't understand is that this problem happens in business all the time. All the rules and regulations slow down the supply chain and the flow of goods. It's interesting that the government doesn't understand that regulations hurt free-market enterprise and getting things done, but when the government wants to get things done in a hurry they realize they must forgo all the regulations. That is interesting isn't it?
Now then, there are always regulatory challenges in humanitarian efforts, and these are things that humanitarian organizations go through all the time regardless of which country they are assisting. It hardly matters if the humanitarian organization is large or small, they need bureaucrats and politicians running block for them so they can get their work done. Otherwise they get caught up in all the rules and regulations, and are dead in the water unable to help those people they are assigned to give assistance and relief efforts to. Consider if you will all the issues in our own society and civilization;
Laws
Red Tape
Bureaucracy
Rules and Regs
Humanitarian organizations after natural disasters especially have to move very quickly. If they are bogged down filling out forms, or unable to do certain things because there is some rule impeding their progress, then nothing gets done, and no one gets helped. Hurricane Super Storm Sandy (2012) was a perfect example in the aftermath in Lower Manhattan, Atlantic City, and other places in New Jersey. The authorities had to take charge, and completely dismiss large numbers of rules and regulations just to do what they needed to do.
If they were unable to bypass those laws and all that red tape, and bust through the blob of bureaucracy, they wouldn't have been able to help anyone, much less themselves. If they would have waited until everything was right, all the forms were filled out, and everything was done by the book, more people would have been without power, water, food, and perhaps even frozen to death or drown in the aftermath. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Humanitarian Help. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/
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