ETHIOPIA: DJIBOUTI PORT: 1ST EU AID SHIPMENT

Описание: (20 Apr 2000) English/Nat

The first E-U shipment of aid to famine-ridden Ethiopia has arrived in the port of Djibouti.

Thirty thousand tonnes of wheat is being off loaded at the dock, ready to be despatched to the worst affected areas.

Over 100-thousand tonnes of aid is expected to arrive over the weekend - which aid officials say should be enough to avert the crisis.

At last, emergency aid for Ethiopia has arrived.

The Vale, originating from France, is carrying 30-thousand tonnes of wheat.

The food is being loaded into bags before being transported by truck to the worst affected areas.

The journey to famine-hit areas such as Gode, Nazret and Kombolcha is expected to take up to three days.

Bureaucracy has caused delays, but now The Vale has arrived, aid officials say there shouldn't be any hiccups.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The problem we have is the late time for the aid to come into the port, but there's so much of it coming in now, there's ship after ship after ship and we don't see any bureaucracy on that side from the customs point of view. We have everything cleared in Addis and the aid goes straight through Ethiopia without any bureaucratic problems."
SUPER CAPTION: Paul Wyatt, logistics coordinator for WFP Djibouti

By the end of the weekend, 100-thousand tonnes of wheat should have arrived - which aid officials say should be enough to avert the crisis for the timebeing.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Basically, what we are seeing is food coming in at the port of Djibouti which will hopefully avert the crisis which we are in, which is going on right now. We need to continue this because in a couple of months around June July the situation might get much worse. If the rains don't come people are going to continue to die. We need to continue to bring food through the port of Djibouti.
SUPERCAPTION: Paul Wyatt, logistics coordinator for WFP Djibouti

14 barges, originating from New Orleans, have also arrived with U-S Aid.

On Sunday, the U-S ship The Fairbanks is set to arrive with 80-thousand tonnes of wheat.

This shipment alone represents one tenth of the amount of food that the Ethiopian government have asked for.

Catherine Bertini, U-N special envoy to the Horn of Africa and head of the World Food Programme, has asked for the port of Djibouti to be expanded.

But port officials say the port can cope with the amount of food expected to come in.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Here in Djibouti we are all set up and ready to work around the clock to take food in and ship it straight out."
SUPER CAPTION: Ali Hettam, shipping agent

And workers at the port have been working around the clock to unload the aid.

Further aid from France will arrive on Friday, bringing the total amount of E-U aid to 60-thousand tonnes.

Aid officials have warned that if the rains do come in June, then all food must be in place as roads will be unpassable.

If the rains fails to come, then more aid will be needed.

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