DATE=3/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ERITREA / U-S FOOD AID (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260570
BYLINE=CAROL PINEAU
DATELINE=ASMARA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United States has pledged 20-million
dollars worth of food aid for Eritrea. As Carol
Pineau reports from Asmara, it is the first U-S
donation since war broke out between Ethiopia and
Eritrea in 1998, despite the nearly one half-
million people displaced in Eritrea by the
conflict.
TEXT: Assistant administrator for humanitarian
response, Hugh Palmer, from the U-S Agency for
International Development, or U-S-A-I-D, says
Eritrea does not at this point have a
humanitarian crisis, but he adds the situation is
precarious.
/// PALMER ACT ///
I do not believe at this moment that there
is a humanitarian crisis in Eritrea,
however, there are a lot of people living
in very, very marginal, and therefore very
dangerous, circumstances. It would not take
but one month's breakdown, in the pipeline,
for food, for example, for people to go
over the edge and move from being in
reasonably good condition to being in
terrible condition, and so it is important
to try and help see that a crisis does not
develop.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Palmer is visiting Eritrea on the last stop
of a five-nation trip to assess drought
conditions in the Horn of Africa. The U-S-A-I-D
representative, who visited war displacement
camps near the border with Ethiopia, says
Eritrea's war displaced need better shelter and
cooking utensils, but that he saw no signs of
severe malnutrition. /// OPT /// He says the
Eritrean government's relief agency deserves
credit for taking care of the people.
/// SECOND PALMER ACT/// /// OPT ACT ///
I was very impressed with the job that your
government and its emergency organization
have done. These are very well structured
and organized camps. The ones I saw today
were as well organized and well managed as
any that I have seen anywhere else in the
world run by international organizations or
others.
/// END ACT/// /// END OPT ///
The U-S donation, which includes grain, plus
cooking utensils and items for shelter and
sanitation programs, is the first U-S donation
since war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea
in May 1998.
/// REST OPT ///
The U-S had refused to pledge support until
Eritrea repaid more than 8 million dollars for
grain that was destined for Ethiopia but was
abandoned at Eritrea's Assab port when the
conflict started. The grain was to be picked up
by Ethiopian trucks, but when Ethiopia severed
all transport to Eritrea, the grain sat rotting
on the docks. According to an Eritrean account
given to U-S-A-I-D, Eritrea dispersed the grain
six months later to needy people - both Eritreans
and stranded Ethiopians - living in the Assab
region. Mr. Palmer says the issue is near a
resolution.
/// THIRD PALMER ACT ///
The issue is not quite resolved, but I
think it is close to being resolved. The
law requires that if United States
commodities are appropriated, that creates
a barrier for us to provide food aid.
Because the humanitarian situation, we
secured a waiver from the (U-S) State
Department, which declared in effect that
there was a sufficient humanitarian crisis
here. We primarily wanted to make sure the
grain was used for humanitarian purposes. I
have become convinced that the grain, at
least the vast majority of it, was used for
humanitarian purposes. Nonetheless, our law
requires us to reach some kind of a
repayment arrangement.
/// END ACT ///
While the U-S has demanded compensation, Ethiopia
also launched a lawsuit before an international
trade court demanding compensation for the same
grain - thereby putting Eritrea at risk of owing
money two times for the same grain. Mr. Palmer
says the U-S will "play no role" in stopping
Ethiopia's legal claim. (Signed)
NEB/CP/GE/KL
24-Mar-2000 14:13 PM EDT (24-Mar-2000 1913 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
