Wheat aid delayed - The government laxity
March 10th, 2009
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AFGHANISTAN: Government fails to deliver promised winter wheat aid |
| Inefficiency ANDMA said shortcomings in private companies contracted by the government to procure and import wheat from abroad were partly to blame. Bureaucratic bottlenecks and poor coordination among various agencies had allegedly delayed aid deliveries, and “contracts were belatedly issued to the private sector by the Ministry of Commerce,” said ANDMA’s Edrak Access restrictions resulting from insecurity, a poor communications infrastructure and winter-related road blockages had also adversely affected aid activities, officials said. Daud Sultanzoy, a member of parliament, however, accused the National Emergency Committee (NEC) - comprised of several government bodies, including ANDMA, and chaired by the country’s second vice-president, Karim Khalili - of institutional inefficiency and mismanagement. “Every year we suffer similar problems,” Sultanzoy told IRIN. “Assessments, planning, implementation and everything are flawed here because the government does not even have a reliable population census on which to base and develop appropriate policies,” he said. Edrak hopes the newly established UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) will help improve coordination and enhance disaster management capacity. Dangerous promises? Senior government officials often make pledges of humanitarian aid to local communities in a bid to win local support or appease disenchanted communities, but these cannot always be fulfilled, and in some cases they backfire: The inability of the government to keep its promises has sparked violence and local protests. At least one person was killed and four wounded in a scuffle during a food aid distribution in Balkhab District, Sar-i-Pul Province, northern Afghanistan, in February. Riots have also been reported over the alleged unfairness of aid handouts, the lack of aid or its theft, as well as attacks on aid distributers. ad/at/cb source.www.irinnews.org |