ESAT News (April 4, 2016)
Ethiopian officials ordered ships loaded with food aid to Ethiopia waiting at the port of Djibouti to sail to the Ports of Berbera in Somaliland and Sudan as the waiting time at the Port of Djibouti has been found to be too long.
Aid agencies fear the delay in the arrival of the food aid could worsen the humanitarian situation in areas severely affected by the drought.
Ethiopian officials told local media that the port of Djibouti was backed up and a decision has been made to use the port of Berbera and port of Sudan. Ethiopia’s ministry for transportation said last week that the country had faced logistical crises and negotiations were underway to rent trucks from Sudan to transport the food to Ethiopia. The UN had also expressed concern on the shortages of trucks to carry the food once it reached the ports.
The minister of transportation, Kassahun Hailemariam said there were ships waiting for one month at the port of Djibouti, which would incur additional cost to the country.
There are over 10 ships in line at the port of Djibouti and the rest are on their way to the port of Berbera and Sudan.