WFP resumes operations at Lokichokkio base

NAIROBI, July 16, 2003(IRIN) — The UN’S World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday said it had resumed food deliveries to south Sudan from its main air base at Lokichokkio in northwestern Kenya, after eight weeks of disruption caused by heavy floods.

In a statement, the agency said it had been forced to relocate its south Sudan food operations to Eldoret, western Kenya in May when a key supply bridge was swept away by the floods.

With the help of the Kenyan authorities, WFP said it had now been able to construct a diversion through which food and fuel trucks were now being hauled over the steep riverbanks by a bulldozer.

“Since the distance from Eldoret to airdrop zones in southern Sudan is longer and therefore, more costly, WFP did everything possible to resume air operations in Lokichokkio as soon as possible, and to ensure the most vulnerable people in southern Sudan continued to be fed,” the statement said.