UN official worried about people north of Bangui

The World Food Programme country director for the Central African Republic, David Bulman, said on Thursday he was "very concerned" about the well-being and food security of people in an area north of the capital, Bangui. "We are doing what we can to reach them but the presence of armed elements complicates access," he told IRIN. Bulman said that through its partners, the WFP had managed to get "some food" to the most vulnerable people - usually a group classification comprising children under five years, pregnant and nursing women, and the sick - living between 12 and 24 km from central Bangui. The estimated 9 mt of food delivered, he said, represented about 18,000 rations. He said 2,000 people were served on Friday. "We are very happy with what has been done," he said. Some people fled to the area to escape fighting between rebels, government troops and their allies from 25-31 October. The chairman of the CAR's Observatoire Centrafricain des Droits de l'Homme, Lambert Zokeozo, told IRIN on Saturday that the area - also known as PK 12 - was scene of many deaths during the fighting pitting pro-government troops against those of renegade army general, Francois Bozize. Some 200 Libyan troops, in CAR to protect president Ange-Felix-Pattasse, and the rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo headed by Jean Pierre Bemba repulsed Bozize's supporters. Some of them are still just 55 km north of Bangui. This and the recent fighting has led to a climate of insecurity in Bangui; while the government awaits the arrival of between 300 and 350 troops form the Central African Economic and Monetary Community countries. During the fighting farmers were unable to supply the city with food, causing price rises. WFP reports that the prices of main commodities, such as cassava, had almost doubled and that if the current climate prevailed they might rise further. A 100 kg bag of cassava, the staple food, cost 9,000 francs CFA (US $14.38) before the fighting. Now it sells for 15,000 francs ($24.38). "People are already living on the edge here due to extreme poverty and lack of payment of public sector salaries," Bulman said. The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation continues to monitor market prices for major foodstuffs, and the WFP and the UN Children's Fund are monitoring nutritional trends. Bulnman said that the WFP would identity vulnerable groups that can be helped "for the duration of the crisis".