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IRIN-WA Update 532 of events in West Africa (Thursday 19 August)
LIBERIA: Government in control of all main towns except Voinjama
The Liberian information minister, Joe Mulbah, told IRIN on Thursday that the government was in control of all the main towns in Lofa County except Voinjama.
"We are crushing the rebellion and the situation in Voinjama is significantly under control," he said. "A mopping-up operation is underway." Mulbah confirmed reports earlier this week that retreating rebels were conducting a scorched-earth policy.
"Heavily armed men with weapons such as RPG's (rocket propelled grenades) are retreating towards Guinea and burning surrounding villages," Mulbah said. The defence minister, Daniel Chea, flew by helicopter to the front line in Voinjama on Thursday to assess the situation, he added.
Civilians and refugees move south
According to Mulbah, the districts of Zorzor and Salayea have been flooded with refugees and civilians fleeing the fighting. The BBC reported on Thursday that the Sierra Leone Embassy in Liberia has asked the UN to investigate reports that refugees had been shot and were suffering acute food shortages.
The Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission told IRIN on Wednesday that some 11,000 civilians had arrived in Zorzor and that it was conducting an assessment mission in the town.
Situation in Vahun calm, UNHCR compound looted
According to reports sent to UNHCR in Abidjan the situation in Vahun was "calm" although there was concern that since the evacuation of UNHCR staff at the weekend there was no-one there to monitor the situation. Vahun hosts some 12,000 Sierra Leonean refugees who fled to Liberia early in 1998.
For the second time since the evacuation, the head of the UNHCR office returned to Vahun by helicopter on Wednesday and reported that everything had been looted in the UNHCR compound except for the base radio, the generator and a refridgerator.
Some 13 UNHCR vehicles have also been looted, 10 from Vahun, including two that were transferred from Kolahun, and three from Voinjama.
There were unconfirmed reports that looting was carried out in Voinjama and Kolahun by the invading forces, who call themselves the Joint Forces of Liberation for Liberia (JFFL), by members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) who crossed over from Sierra Leone and also by Liberian armed personnel.
The north-western region of Liberia is an insecure and volatile region close to the borders with Sierra Leone and Guinea, where several dissident groups and factions are based.
The Liberian government has said that the invading dissidents came from Guinea. The Guinean government has denied this and any involvement in the situation.
The UNHCR said its priority now was to have high-level meetings in Liberia between the United Nations, the Liberian authorities and NGOs to define the next course of action. The UNHCR Regional Director for West Africa, Abou Moussa, is to travel there on Monday.
SIERRA LEONE: Phase one of disarmament completed
With the discharge of 1,408 former Sierra Leone Army (ex-SLA) soldiers, the government and its partners have completed the first phase of a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme aimed at consolidating peace in Sierra Leone, a UN report said.
In its report for July and August, the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unity (HACU) for Sierra Leone said the DDR centre in Lungi - about 17 km north of Freetown - had been reopened. It has been receiving ex-SLA soldiers who surrendered before the start of the programme, which assumes that 33,000 to 40,000 combatants will need to be disarmed and reintegrated into society. The operation is expected to cost up to US $35 million.
Humanitarian access mechanism needed
HACU said a comprehensive mechanism was needed to guarantee unhindered access for humanitarian aid missions to areas controlled by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
"The Implementation Committee established in Lome for this purpose is yet to convene," the report said. Despite this, it added, some RUF commanders "have shown willingness to cooperate with agencies in providing adequate security for the start of relief operations".
However, humanitarian agencies worry about the ad-hoc basis of this arrangement. They have expressed concern about "serious incidents" in the Occra Hills - about 40 km east of Freetown - as well as in Rokupr and Makeni, about 67 km north and 200 km northeast of Freetown respectively.
In these areas, the RUF have threatened the lives of humanitarian workers, beaten national staff, stolen personal items and looted the assets of relief agencies, HACU reported. "This contrasts sharply with RUF-controlled areas in the east where visits have been incident-free," it said.
There have also been persistent reports of harassment by the pro-government militia, Civil Defence Forces, in the southern and eastern provinces, according to HACU. It said motorists driving along the Freetown-Bo-Kenema highways were reportedly harassed on the 76 checkpoints along the route. It takes truckers and other drivers two days to cover the 240 km to Bo, the report said.
"The combined effect of these incidents has interfered with the planned expansion of humanitarian programmes throughout the country," HACU said.
Curfew relaxed
A curfew imposed on Freetown almost eight months ago has been reduced by two hours beginning Thursday, ECOMOG Press and Public Relations Officer Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukolade told IRIN.
Confirming reports that the relaxation was announced in an official communique broadcast on state radio, Olukolade said the curfew will begin at 21:00 and end at 06:00.
The restriction would, he said, be relaxed further "as the security situation improves". Prior to this the curfew began at 20:00 and ended at 07:00.
Food aid
Sierra Leoneans will probably face "increased hardship" when the cassava harvest runs out in September because "very few" families risked cultivating rice fields during the war, the reports says quoting Action Contre la Faim (ACF), an international NGO.
It says the plight of villagers along the Masiaka-Makeni and Songo-Masiaka roads could be considered grave because of the prevailing hungry season, the lack of medical care and poor drinking water.
In response, the National Technical Committee on Food Aid has proposed an expanded vulnerable group feeding (VGF) distribution in affected areas. The committee also wants to ensure that more food goes to towns, while adhering to the principle of target programmes, the HACU report said.
VGF will target all children under five years old, pregnant and lactating women, elderly people and the disabled.
GUINEA-BISSAU: Efforts to rebuild continue
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has helped rebuild 18 community schools as part of efforts to rehabilitate Guinea-Bissau's health and education sectors, damaged during last year's military uprising.
Another 20 schools are to be rebuilt under the UNICEF-supported project aimed at getting children in war-affected areas back to school and eliminating the need for makeshift rural schools, according to the latest situation report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Guinea-Bissau.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is providing food to support canteens, OCHA said in the report, which covers 1-15 August 1999. The Education Ministry is to create literacy centres in each of the schools with UNICEF support, it said.
In the area of water and sanitation, UNICEF has completed the repair of 10 deep wells in Bissau and begun digging five new ones, in addition to providing drinking water in areas identified as vulnerable to potential cholera outbreaks, OCHA reported.
Seeds have been distributed throughout the country with technical assistance from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
The Ministry of Health has initiated a measles vaccination campaign in the southern region of Tombali (Catio and Timbo sectors).
CARITAS and WFP have initiated a pilot project to increase
pre-natal check-ups by giving food as an incentive
to pregnant women in the eastern region of Gab.. They
plan to extend the project to the rest of the country.
A nationwide distribution of seeds was concluded through
the technical assistance of FAO to the Ministry of
Agriculture. The current agriculture campaign is being
monitored, and technical follow-up provided, by national
FAO consultants, NGOs and regional structures of the
ministry.
Regular rains and the absence of excessive insect infestations
has been allowing a satisfactory development of crops
such as rice, corn, peanuts, millet and sorghum. Corn
harvesting has begun in the eastern regions of Gab.
and Bafat..
The second phase of a WFP food-for-work project in conjunction
with the Evangelical Church to repair irrigation dikes
is underway in the Tombali region. It is expected to
benefit 2,000 people. WFP is also supporting a pilot
literacy project for 300 women in the east-central
region of Bafat. with food-for-training aimed at encouraging
course participation.
Due to a food gap during the period before the harvest, WFP food rations to vulnerable groups has been increased. Beneficiaries had previously been given individual portions (two kg of cereals per person), but are now receiving family portions to prevent the division of rations.
BURKINA FASO: General strike
Workers in Burkina Faso staged a 48-hour general strike - ending on Thursday - for the second time in less than two months.
Thomas Paulin Ouedraogo, secretary for organisation and coordination of the Confederation nationale des Travailleurs burkinabe (CNTB), told IRIN on Thursday that one of the main reasons for the protest was the dismissal of eight shop stewards at a sugar company privatised in 1998.
The unions want the Societe Sucriere de la Comoe (SOSSUCO) to reinstate the shop stewards who, they say, were dismissed for participating in a general strike on 29-30 June.
The unions also want the withdrawal of dismissal warnings issued to 47 workers of a local cement company for participating in the strike.
Another demand is the repeal of a new decree which requires holders of the baccalaureat to sit a university entrance examination which, Ouedraogo charged, "reduces the value of the bac".
Abidjan, 19 August 1999; 18:51 GMT
[ENDS]
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Item: irin-english-1451
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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