Syria declares emergency for drought-hit northeast
Pastor Dale Morgan
Syria declares emergency for drought-hit northeast*
DAMASCUS, June 8 (AFP) Jun 08, 2009
Syria on Monday adopted emergency measures, including food distribution,
to help people in the drought-hit northeast of the country, the official
Sana news agency said.
It said the authorities "have begun to distribute food aid in the worst
drought-affected regions in the northeast" as part of a series of
emergency steps.
"Nearly 5,200 food rations have been distributed in Al-Hasakah and
15,000 more rations will arrive in the next few days," said provincial
governor Najib Salloum.
He added that each food ration comprised "150 kilograms of flour, 25 kg
sugar, 25 kg semolina, 10 kg lentils, two kg animal fat, one kg tea, and
one kg oil, worth in total 6,000 Syrian pounds (128 dollars)"
distributed to the worst-affected families.
Syria's northeast has been affected by drought for the past three years
and 160 villages were abandoned by their inhabitants in 2007 and 2008
because of the climate change, according to a report by the
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) published
last week.