'What emergency?' ask soldiers
2004-06-01 09:13
Port-au-Prince - Some 10 000 families are at risk in the Haitian region of Mapou, a World Food Programme official said on Monday, criticising the multinational force's decision to stop its food relief flights.
The official, Guy Gauvreau, said he thought the force was going to continue its helicopter flights, but the Americans in charge had told him "it's not their mandate".
Some 100 tons of food and medicine are needed in the region around Mapou, which could remain cut off by floodwaters and mudslides for a long time, Gauvreau said.
The soldiers in the multinational force "think that there's no more emergency. For us, there is an emergency and that's where we differ", said Gauvreau, a Canadian national.