Palu food aid gone to waste

PALU, Central Sulawesi: The coordinator for the Poso refugees, Yus Mangun, said on Wednesday 3,000 packages of food aid from the Kuwaiti government had gone to waste.

Yus, who is an official in the local administration, said the packages passed their expiration date before they could be distributed.

He said one of the reasons for this failure was that the parties assigned to distribute the aid had no experienced in dealing with refugees.

He did not say who was assigned the task of distributing the aid. "Their inexperience caused a long delay in channeling the supplies to the refugees. The delay was so long, the food passed its expiration date."

According to Yus, other aid meant for the refugees met a similar fate. Construction materials from the Indonesian Red Cross was stolen before it could reach the refugees.

Yus said bags of cement and iron bars were looted by local residents.

Some 2,000 people have taken shelter around Palu to escape the violence in Poso which has left at least 200 people dead in the past year. (24)