DAMMAM, 15 February — The relief operation launched by community groups in the Eastern Province for Gujarat earthquake victims has been completely derailed by bureaucracy and absence of documentation.
An Air-India flight, scheduled to carry nearly 10 tons of relief cargo to Ahmedabad last Monday, did not load the goods as customs officials demanded a clearance from the Indian Embassy. An embassy source claimed that a letter was sent to concerned authorities within two hours of the inception of the mission.
After Monday's debacle, Air-India tried to carry the relief goods yesterday. Again it could not load the cargo for similar reasons. Moreover, a Kanoo Cargo trailer truck carrying another consignment of more than 10 tons of relief goods was turned back from the King Fahd International Airport's cargo terminal. At the time of going to press, the cargo was being off-loaded at a Kanoo Cargo warehouse.
Abdul Rafiq, regional manager of Kanoo Cargo, said as a result of the delays the company could not cope with the situation as its warehouse was full with cartons donated by residents and businesses. He said the company was not in a position to accept more consignments until the warehouse is cleared.
Social and cultural organizations and business establishments are approaching the embassy for clearance documents. The embassy is in a quandary as it doesn't know what to do with the flood of requests.
Al-Shifa Syringe has donated 3.8 tons of syringes and has informed the embassy of its move. However, they could not be picked up from the warehouse. Nearly two tons of long-life milk donated by Khalifa Algosaibi is also lying at the Kanoo Cargo warehouse.
The way things are, it seems that nothing could be transported to India before Monday when Air-India has its next flight scheduled from Dammam.
A similar crisis has developed in Riyadh. According to a report, one trailer laden with relief cargo was turned back from King Khaled International Airport.
Meanwhile, SNAS-DHL relief operation went through smoothly and a Boeing 757 flight carried nearly 38 tons cargo containing emergency medical aid, tents and blankets to India. Less urgent goods are being shipped by sea and DHL expects the shipment to reach India in a day or two. Over 100 volunteers collected 150 tons of relief cargo at DHL offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, including 5,000 blankets, a full truckload of milk and over 30 tons of rice, said SNAS-DHL country manager David Atkinson. The relief goods were transferred to Red Cross for distribution.
