Food-aid ship arrives in Freetown

A cargo ship carrying 1,100 mt of food aid arrived today (Friday) in Freetown, according to a WFP press release received by IRIN. It is the the first time that WFP has been able to use the main port in Sierra Leone’s capital since the last outbreak of fighting on 6 January. “This shipment will enable us to replenish our food stocks and respond to the needs of the displaced people living in makeshift camps all over the capital,” Paul Ares, the WFP Regional Manager for coastal West Africa, said. The ship is carrying 500 mt of WFP food aid which, according to the WFP, will be enough to feed 22,000 people for two months. It is also carrying 600 mt of rice donated by Italy to the Sierra Leonean government, the statement added. WFP’s warehouses in Freetown were looted in January and some 2,300 mt of food was taken. “Despite the looting of our food aid, WFP and other aid agencies managed to feed thousands of needy people using existing relief supplies stocks,” Ares said. Since the end of the fighting in Freetown, WFP and other aid agencies have assisted over 100,000 people who were living in temporary shelters in and around the city, including the sports stadium, schools, churches and mosques, the statement said. Most of the people receiving aid lost their homes and possessions during the fighting or were injured or mutilated. Towns such as Bo and Kenema in the interior of the country have dwindling food stocks as the needs of civilians continue to rise, it added.