UN offers aid to drought hit regions in western Cuba
Thursday, July 8, 2004
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): The United Nations
warned Wednesday that thousands of people might be at risk due to a severe
drought afflicting parts of western Cuba, and said it had approved an aid
package for the affected provinces. The UN
said it fears acute food shortages in the three western provinces of Holguin,
Las Tunas and Camaguey "where the drought has been particularly intense."
The UN has approved 161,000 dollars in aid for the drought-hit areas, much of
which will be sped to help over one hundred thousand children under five years
of age, the UN said in a statement. "The lack
of rain has severely harmed agriculture and farming in these regions, and put
the food supplies of its population at risk," the statement said.
Local people will start receiving stocks of rice, oil and beans from mid-July
to help stave off food shortages. "The
drought has had a wide impact ... there is also the possibility that
infectious diseases could spread," UN representative Bruno Moro told AFP after
visiting Holguin on Wednesday with over 50 foreign diplomats.
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