Food convoys to continue despite rains - UN
COLOMBO: Weekly food convoys run by the UN and Government for
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North will continue, despite
the monsoon rains, UN officials in Colombo said.
The third convoy since the relocation of UN and other international
agencies from Wanni, on September 16 was expected to travel on October
24, UN spokesman Gordon Weiss told IRIN.
The agencies relocated following a Government directive. Since
October 3, at least 101 UN supply trucks, in addition to Government
supplies, have reached the Wanni. The weekly UN convoy carries 750
metric tonnes of supplies.
“The food distribution system, supported by the Government Agents in
the Wanni, is working well,” Weiss said, “and indications are that
supplies are reaching IDPs even in the remote villages (in the Wanni).”
Heavy rains in the Wanni in the past two weeks have caused delivery
problems and heightened the need to provide shelter material for the
estimated 230,000 IDPs there, UN and government officials told IRIN.
“The roads used by the food convoys need some repair,” Imalda Sukumar,
the Government Agent for the Mullaithivu District, where more than
155,000 people (about 39,000 families) are displaced, told IRIN. “We
have received funds to repair the road from the Government and we will
start work soon.”
She said that Rs. 30 million had been allocated for the repair work,
of which half was to be released immediately. The convoys can no longer
use the A9 highway, the best road into the Wanni, but instead must take
a north-eastern route from Puliyankulam, about 15km north of the
Omanthai crossover point.
“It is not an easy journey, especially when you have 50 heavy
vehicles loaded with supplies travelling during the rains,” Weiss told
IRIN. The last UN convoy was delayed by more than two hours when two
trucks became stuck in deep potholes.
The rains have also raised concerns over shelter for IDPs, Weiss
said. According to UN assessments, thousands of families are in
temporary shelters on paddy lands, which are prone to flooding.“With
rains, there is the need to supply shelter material and we are now
looking into transporting them,” Weiss said.
Sukumar told IRIN that despite most IDPs staying in low-lying areas,
no significant flooding of IDP sites had been reported.
“There is, however, a health risk. Most of these people are living in
the open without proper toilet facilities,” she said. “With the rains
there is the threat of water-borne diseases, especially among the
children.”
Weiss said cases of diarrhoea had been reported among the IDPs. IRIN |