Military

DATE=10/07/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-N/AFGHAN AID (L-O)

NUMBER=2-281458

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The U-N World Food Program says it is preparing for possible airdrops of food into particularly hard-to-reach places in areas of Afghanistan. But, as Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports, the W-F-P says a number of conditions must be met before airdrops can begin.

TEXT: An estimated six-million people in Afghanistan are hungry. The World Food Program wants to feed them and is sending hundreds of tons of food on a daily basis into Afghanistan from Pakistan and other neighboring countries.

The W-F-P has only four to six-weeks in which to pre-position food inside Afghanistan. That is when winter starts and many roads become impassable.

W-F-P spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume says about 100-thousand families living in the mountainous regions of central Afghanistan are particularly at risk of famine. She says that area is completely cut off by snow during the winter.

She says enough food stocks cannot be brought into the region before the onset of winter. Therefore, as a measure of last resort, she says the W-F-P has decided to airdrop food into the area.

/// BERTHIAUME ACT ///

We will try to get as much food as possible inside the country. Airdrop is the last resort. It is really very expensive. Let me just give you a figure. It costs between seven-hundred and one-thousand 200 dollars a ton to airdrop food.

/// END ACT ///

Ms. Berthiaume says the W-F-P has to provide about five-thousand tons of food a month throughout winter to keep these people alive. She says the airdrops cannot begin until the W-F-P gets the go-ahead from the ruling Taleban and other security concerns are resolved.

/// BERTHIAUME 2nd ACT ///

It is a very risky and dangerous operation. This is why we need people on the ground and our local staff. We need to be able to communicate with them. I have been on one of those airdrops and people on the ground are communicating with the pilot in the plane to tell him that everything is fine. There is an airdrop zone that is secure. There is nobody on that place and after that, the plane airdrops the food.

/// END ACT ///

In a conventional airdrop, 50-kilogram sacks of cereal are dropped. Ms. Berthiaume says the W-F-P is considering an alternative method called snow-drop. Under this method, she says, small packets of high-protein food are dropped from the sky.

She says these packages pose no dangers for the people below because they are very light. But, she says, this creates another problem. Because the packages float lightly, they become easily dispersed. (SIGNED)

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