Greedy officials diverted aid intended for victims of Morocco’s deadly earthquake for their own use, according to a local leader and residents of a town where police arrested two people accused of fraudulently manipulating the relief effort.
”I think in the circumstances there are always people who are ready to take advantage of the situation by diverting small or even large quantities for themselves, albeit only on a marginal basis,” said Shakir Ashabar, chairperson of local pressure group Attajdid wal Insaf.
He added that the overly centralised system of aid distribution made life easier for the fraudsters.
”There was a certain disorganisation in the way the aid was distributed at the beginning. It was too centralised — people were still in a state of shock,” according to Ashabar.
On Monday, Morocco’s Minister for Communications and government spokesperson Nabil Benabdallah revealed that two men, one of them a local community official, the other a worker for the Red Crescent organisation, had been arrested on suspicion of stashing away aid consignments.
Benabdallah said the unnamed aid worker was detained following complaints that a consignment of blankets had gone missing and after an investigation by regional authorities.
The Red Crescent official appeared before judges on Tuesday, legal sources in Al Hoceima, the main city in the quake zone, said.
The minister added that a local councillor had also been arrested for allegedly firing a rifle in the air to scatter a group of people, angry at the speed of aid distribution in their village and amid further allegations of aid being diverted by officials for their families.
”These people have been arrested and will be brought before a judge,” Benabdallah promised.
A group of locals taking shelter from driving rain and lingering over a sweet mint tea in the welcoming warmth of the Rocad Café at Imzouren, one of the towns worst hit by the quake that killed 572 people and injured 413 more, were outraged at reports of vital aid being siphoned off.
”I think these guys, if they are guilty, should go to prison,” says Karim, a man in his early twenties.
Another man, Mohammed Al Mansouri, was not quite as ready to condemn those accused of diverting relief supplies earmarked for inhabitants of far-flung villages in the Rif Mountains.
”I wasn’t here the day the quake hit. I have heard the stories, but I don’t know the details. I must let others be the judge of what these people are supposed to have done.
”All I can say is that for the first couple of days neither the citizens nor the state really had much clue what was going on.”
Ashabar said the nature of the crisis meant it was difficult to keep a close eye on just what aid was available and its supposed destination.
”There was a shortage of information and all sorts of rumours flying around.
”But the centralised distribution meant that there was scope to mask what was what. Some people found themselves with more aid than they needed while others were going without.
”That meant a few succumbed to the temptation to sell on some stuff. It’s a natural phenomenon, primarily due to people’s state of shock after the quake.
”Don’t forget, the families of the officials helping with the distribution live here and also want things,” added Ashabar, who said telling survivors to turn up at centralised aid distribution points was a mistake.
”In such circumstances you don’t know who’s who or where they have come from. We were doling things out to people without knowing what their needs were — there was confusion all round.
”The method didn’t work.”
A senior army spokesperson earlier said distribution methods would be carefully assessed in the event of a future quake, though not necessarily altered, while conceding that the experience of this occasion had shown a need to target carefully which villages required exactly what aid.
”At the outset it’s a question of getting as much help in as thought needed. Then we need to switch from blanket coverage to a more specific assssment on a village by village basis,” the spokesperson said. — Sapa-AFP