05 November 2001
Excerpt: U.N. Briefing on Food Deliveries in Afghanistan, Nov. 3
(Oncoming winter will thwart relief effort, World Food Program says)
(690)
The World Food Program (WFP) is "turning somersaults" to step up food
deliveries into the mountainous areas of Afghanistan, attempting to
get supplies where they are needed before winter begins, according to
WFP representative Lindsey Davies, speaking at a briefing in Islamabad
November 3.
The immediate priority, Davies said, is to transport almost 40,000
tons of food into the mountainous northeast regions before they become
inaccessible due to snow. Davis also said WFP is developing plans to
establish a supply camp at a high elevation in the mountains in order
to keep deliveries moving through the winter.
Following is excerpt of the U.N. briefing:
(begin excerpt)
U.N. INFORMATION CENTER
Press briefing by the UN offices for Pakistan and Afghanistan
03 Nov 2001
Lindsey Davies, Spokesperson for World Food Program
As the deadline for winter ticks away and the need to preposition
massive quantities of food for people living in the mountain areas of
the country is ever critical, WFP is turning somersaults to increase
the amount of trucks on the road and the amount of food delivered into
these areas before roads are made impassable by winter.
--The priority for WFP is to deliver 39,000 tonnes of food to feed
700,000 people living in the isolated Central Highlands, the Panjsheer
Valley and five districts in the North Eastern province of Badakshan
which usually get cut off by snow, by the end of this month. So far
about 7,000 tonnes have gone in leaving a balance of 32,000 tonnes to
be delivered over the next three to four weeks.
-- We are working to augment the trucking capacity inside Afghanistan.
As a priority we will focus on the snow inaccessible areas, but the
increased capacity will serve the rest of the country when needed.
trucks.
--WFP has already hired an arctic/harsh environment specialist who is
drawing up plans for WFP to set up a logistics base camp at the tip of
the Anjuman pass. This is a 6000-meter high pass that leads into the
Panjsheer valley. This camp will help to continue the food convoys and
to supply them with fuel, accommodation for drivers, trucks and snow
ploughs. This is the first time this will be done in Afghanistan. The
aim is to keep the Anjuman Pass -- the only link in the Pansheer
Valley from the north -- open as long as possible.
--We are pulling out the stops at every turn to get the vehicles and
equipment we need in to do the job, if not, then as a last option we
will have to use air operations. WFP already has an emergency air cell
operating in Islamabad who is working on the technical aspect of the
operation. We have the planes and personnel on standby if necessary
from our Sudan operation -- which back in 1998 during the famine was
hailed the 'largest humanitarian airdrop operation in the world.'
--But that's not all, if we've got the logistics; we need to have
enough food flowing to deliver. To speed this process up, WFP is
buying bulk quantities of the food in the region, including Iran and
Kazakhstan, and tomorrow (Sunday), 2 huge bagging machines will be
flown in from WFP's Djibouti operation to Turkemenabad. This means we
can bring in bulk wheat and bag it insitu and load it immediately onto
trucks, enabling us to take it more quickly and efficiently to the
north and north west of Afghanistan. Turkmenabad will become a major
hub as it has road links to transport food to the north and north west
of the country as well as rail and road networks to Tajikistan which
allows WFP to get into the northeast. . . .
(end excerpt)
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