WFP resumes food delivery after four-month suspension

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed transporting food into the Central African Republic (CAR) from neighbouring Cameroon, where it had been held for four months due to insecurity in CAR, a WFP official told IRIN on Tuesday. The WFP representative in CAR, David Bulman, said that food delivery resumed soon after the government had put a new warehouse at WFP's disposal. "As soon as we had the new warehouse allocated, we gave the green light to start delivering some of the food from Cameroon," Bulman said. He added that five trucks transporting 100 mt of beans reached Bangui, the capital, on Saturday and were to be followed by other trucks in the coming days. WFP suspended its food delivery into the country in March, when its main warehouses in Bangui were looted in the aftermath of the 15 March coup that brought Francois Bozize to power after ousting Ange-Felix Patasse. At that time, about 1,800 mt of supplies were looted. "The new WFP warehouse is in the safest place possible in the city," Bulman said. That place, he said, was in the same compound as customs and police services. Bulman said that as soon as the needed quantity of food reached Bangui, distributions would be organised. He said the beneficiaries would include about 50,000 people across the country, particularly schoolchildren, malnourished and abandoned children, abandoned elderly people, pregnant women with low body weight, HIV-infected and affected people and, if security conditions allowed, those who were affected by the October 2002-March 2003 fighting. With the latter group, Bulman said, the figure could go far beyond 50,000 people. Until now, thousands of displaced people and those who returned home in the war-ravaged north have received no food aid. While in hiding, most of them were reported to have consumed all their food reserves and seeds. Insecurity, which persisted in that area, hindered humanitarian operations and prevented NGOs from reaching the northernmost parts of the country. To restore security in that region, the peace force of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States has sent two-thirds of its 380 men to northern towns. Meanwhile, state-owned Radio Centrafrique reported on Tuesday that CAR army chief of staff, Gen Antoine Gambi, toured the CAR-Chad border region to install security forces and reassure the population.