UNITED NATIONS – The director of the UN food company said Monday that he is “very, very concerned” that Lebanon will run out of bread in about two and a half weeks because 85% of the country’s grain passes through Beirut’s devastated port. however, he believes that a port region may be operational this month.
David Beasley, who is in Beirut to assess the injured and customers for their recovery, said at a virtual UN conference on the humanitarian situation after last week’s explosion in the Lebanese capital that “at the devastated site, we discovered a footprint on which we can operate temporarily. “
“By working with the Lebanese army, we can leave a component of this site blank,” Beasley said. “We’re going to fly a lot of teams, doing everything we can.”
Beasley said he had met with the cupboard ministers, all of whom resigned later on Monday, and told them that the UN needed “absolute cooperation now, unhindered” because other people on the streets are and said they needed foreign help, but “please make sure the aid reaches out directly to other people.”
For the first time since last week’s explosion, two ships docked monday at the port of Beirut, adding one with worn grain, according to state media.
The head of the port workers’ union, Bechara Asmar, told Al-Jadeed TV that, since the grain silos were destroyed by the explosion, the device will be pumped into trucks or bags after being disinfected. “
“It’s a ray of hope,” Asmar said of the early arrivals, adding that the fifth basin of the port where the ships docked remains intact despite the explosion.
Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program, said a shipment with 17,500 metric tons of wheat flour will arrive in Beirut “in two weeks, and that’s to put bread on the table of all Lebanese and this will give us a source of bread for 20 days.”
“While we’re doing this, we have 30 days of about 30,000 metric tons of wheat that we import, and then another 100,000 metric tons over the next 60 days,” Beasley said.
Najat Rochdi, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, said at a news convention after informing UN members that Beasley had gone to port with engineers to assess what could be done.
“They are very confident that this rehabilitation will begin this week to strengthen the capacity of Beirut’s port,” he said.
Rochdi said he understands that a shipment will arrive on Thursday with building materials, followed by a shipment of wheat and grain, “to solve the challenge of food security and make sure Beirut doesn’t run out of bread.”
UN humanitarian leader Mark Lowcock told diplomats that the “fast and powerful” humanitarian reaction is only the first of a three-phase reaction to the tragedy.
“The timing – recovery and reconstruction – will charge billions of dollars and will require a combination of public funds and funds,” he said. “The third detail is to respond to the pre-existing socio-economic crisis in Lebanon, which has already been exacerbated through COVID-19.”
He suggested that donors, foreign monetary establishments and the wider foreign network “combine and put their shoulders behind the wheel,” and emphasized that other Lebanese people will benefit better through a collective response.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told UN member countries that the voice of other Lebanese people “must be heard.”
“It is that a credible and transparent investigation determines the cause of the explosion and brings the duty demanded through the other Lebanese people,” he said. “Reforms are also being implemented to meet the wishes of other Lebanese people in the long run.”
Guterres also promised that “the United Nations will join Lebanon to help alleviate immediate suffering and recovery.”