BBC News | AFRICA | UN appeals for Madagascar aid

BBC News Online: World: Africa

Friday, 10 March, 2000, 08:47 GMT

UN appeals for Madagascar aid

The UN says it is deeply concerned about severe flooding in Madagascar, as aid workers try to reach remote villages cut off by floods.

The World Food Programme will begin an airlift operation on Friday and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says an official appeal will be launched shortly.

Unfortunately we are not bathed in the limelight of the world's television cameras, and our plight is dramatic
Sergio Soro, UN representative

The agency says more than half-a-million people have been affected by torrential rain which has devastated much of the region.

On Thursday, Mr Annan appealed to relief donors to contribute generously to relief efforts.

An estimated 137 people have died since mid-February, while 10,000 people have been left homeless and another 12,000 have been cut off from immediate assistance.

Spotlight on Mozambique

A UN representative in Madagascar, Sergio Soro, said the island was not getting the same media attention as Mozambique, despite being hit by the same storms.

"Unfortunately we are not bathed in the limelight of the world's television cameras, and our plight is dramatic," he said.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said there was a serious threat of disease, as the flooding has coincided with a cholera epidemic on the island, which has already claimed 1,000 lives.

A French warship carrying six helicopters has been re-routed from Mozambique and is expected to reach Madagascar on Friday.

Cut off

The helicopters will enable aid workers to reach remote areas of the island, which are surrounded by water.

The WFP airlift will be controlled from the capital Antananarivo and will initially fly 4,000 tonnes of rice, beans and sugar to isolated villages.

Madagascar flood
137 have died in flooding
More than 500,000 have been affected
10,000 have been made homeless
12,000 stranded
More than 1,000 have died from cholera in the past year

Aid agencies on Thursday rushed food, medicine and blankets to flood victims.

Two French ships carrying medicine and milk are on their way to the island and on Wednesday, French President Jaques Chirac called on the European Union to help in the relief effort.

There are reports that the island's once-pristine beaches are littered with dead birds and cattle. Coffins have been dredged up by the churning floodwaters.

Cyclone Eline tore through Madagascar last month before heading on to devastate Mozambique, located on the African mainland about 400km (250 miles) west of the island.

It was followed last week by Cyclone Gloria.

Related to this story:
Rain disrupts relief operation (09 Mar 00 | Africa)
The floods: A regional disaster (28 Feb 00 | Africa)
Aid arrives for desperate Zambians (08 Mar 00 | Africa)
In pictures: The floods' terrible legacy (07 Mar 00 | Africa)
Mozambique: Nature takes its toll (01 Mar 00 | Africa)
Rain disrupts relief operation (09 Mar 00 | Africa)