International aid agencies yesterday criticised the British military for the slowness of the humanitarian aid effort in southern Iraq, especially the chaotic distribution of emergency water supplies.
The agencies contrasted public relations pictures of British soldiers engaged in relief work in southern Iraq with horrendous conditions on the ground.
The army responded that it was not capable of doing anything more than a quick fix and that even that was difficult to achieve in what was still a battle zone.
Patrick Nicholson, working in southern Iraq for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod), said yesterday that in Umm Qasr, which has been under control for a week and is deemed to be safe militarily, ”there is a humanitarian need for water and it is not being met”.
He said that if the British could not supply a town of only 40 000 with water, it did not bode well for Basra, a city of more than a million, and other places in Iraq.
Unicef, which has had a long involvement in Iraq, also expressed concern about the water situation in Baghdad in the event of a prolonged siege. The electricity blackout since Thursday could disrupt the pumps that supply water.
A Unicef representative said the city has back-up generators that, theoretically, could keep the pumps running for three weeks, if staff can reach their workplaces.
The area suffering the severest water shortages remains Basra, where part of the electricity supply was knocked out by bombing at the start of the war. About 40% of the population have no — or limited — access to water. People in Basra have been taking drinking water direct from a river that is also used for sewage.
Save the Children expressed concern that the lack of electricity and fresh water in Basra could lead to outbreaks of dysentery, cholera and other diseases. An estimated 100 000 children are at risk.
Unicef sent 10 water tankers across the border from Kuwait into southern Iraq yesterday but the amounts were tiny compared to the need. Damien Personnaz, a Unicef representative, said: ”The water needs are really serious, and they’re going to get worse” as temperatures are rising.
Nicholson said he had visited a hospital at Umm Qasr and although Cafod had been assured it would be supplied with water, it had been without a supply for three days. He added that people were crossing the frontline from Basra into Umm Qasr in a desperate search for water, only to turn back disappointed.
Nicholson said the water was not reaching the neediest people and that, amid the chaos, profiteers have been exploiting the situation, selling 20 litres of water for 250-300 Iraqi dinars — a lot for the average Iraqi.
The UK military said it is urgently investigating Cafod’s claims.
The British Humanitarian Task Force, led by the 23 Pioneer Regiment, has been at the heart of the aid effort. Even before the first aid — water and rations — hit the ground around southern Iraq, Colonel Peter Jones admitted British forces were able to offer little more than a ”Band-Aid” until non-governmental agencies arrived.
”We are not here to remedy the situation,” he said. ”We cannot offer the Iraqis everything that they want. What we can do, however, is get the infrastructure of southern Iraq working again. We need to be able to quickly restore electricity and mains water supplies to the region to allow the people to be independent.”
For the past two weeks, the 23 Pioneer Regiment has been delivering water — initially in quantities of 24 000 litres — to the suburbs of Zubayr.
In recent days, the number of water tankers has increased. On Thursday the Pioneers delivered 84 000 litres into the Zubayr’s town centre. Tomorrow the Pioneers will deliver an estimated 35 000 rations to Umm Qasr. Yet army staff admit the aid is little short of a quick fix.
The water and food drops have come under attack on a number of occasions from militias from Zubayr and nearby Basra.
”It is difficult to deliver aid in an area that is still an active battle zone,” said Colonel Jones. ”All kinds of security measures have to be put in place. We need to be accompanied by armoured vehicles, the area of the drop-off has to be scouted for safety measures beforehand.” — Guardian Unlimited Â