Flood relief: Govt to add 25,000 tonnes of wheat to WFP rations

The contribution is meant to encourage donors and help the WFP.

HYDERABAD: The Sindh government will support the World Food Programme’s flood relief efforts (WFP) by providing 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat for free.

“This will be done to compliment the WFP’s food basket in order to avoid any break in supply in the coming months,” Chief Secretary Sindh Raja Muhammad Abbass assured Ramiro Lopes Da Silva, the WFP deputy executive director, at a meeting on Thursday.

WFP spokesman Amjad Jamal told The Express Tribune that the chief secretary has asked the food department and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to check if there are stocks available. Da Silva, who has come from Italy to visit the flood-affected areas of Sindh, welcomed the government’s offer.

“The in-kind donation of the provincial government, particularly wheat or wheat flour, will encourage donors and help the WFP to mobilise further resources for the UN Flash Appeal for Flood Response 2011.”

The WFP has begun distributing rations in Badin, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Tharparkar and Mirpurkhas. About 53,488 families will be provided a month’s ration by Wednesday. “We are on target to reach 0.5 million beneficiaries by the end of September and aim to reach 2.2 million by October,” said Da Silva.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th,  2011.