Lankan tea ICRC’s choice

Rafik Jalaldeen

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has purchased 118 tonnes of locally grown tea and shipped the consignment to Jordan and Pakistan to be distributed among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and people affected by armed conflict and internal violence.

ICRC spokesperson Sarasi Wijeratne said the first 48 tonnes of tea were sent to Karachi in May this year. The ICRC has distributed them to 34,000 IDPs in camps.

“A consignment of 28 tonnes of tea reached Peshawar in the first week of June and the ICRC has distributed it among 168,000 people both IDPs and residents of the areas where the IDPs are staying”, Wijeratne told the Daily News.

Another stock of 42 tonnes of tea has sent to its Middle East logistics hub in Jordan where it will be included in food parcels for 100,000 IDPs in the West Bank and Iraq.

The spokesperson said Sri Lankan tea meets the ICRC’s stringent quality standards for food it distributes.