Dissatisfaction continues at DDR camps

A potentially tense situation was defused last week at the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) Camp South in Port Loko, ECOMOG spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukolade told IRIN. “After persuasion, people were pacified and the situation was brought under control before it became a full-blown riot,” he said. The former rebel inmates were complaining about delays in receiving their allowances and food for their families. There are some 500 people in the camp but, Olukolade said, not everyone was involved. Their complaints were raised on Tuesday at the regular meeting of the National Committee for DDR (NCDDR) where it was decided that a delegation including the ECOMOG force commander, the US ambassador, the RUF leader and government officials would visit the camp on a “sensitisation” visit, Olukolade said. On 8 November, ex-Sierra Leone Army (SLA) combatants rioted for several hours at the Lungi Demobilisation Camp north of Freetown demanding improved living conditions and payment of salary arrears.