Iraq: UN relief official visits looted facilities in Baghdad, warns of risk of illness

The top United Nations relief official in Iraq today drew attention to the looting that had been occurring at a number of public facilities around Baghdad, and warned of the risk of illness and malnutrition resulting from untreated sewage.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Ramiro Lopes da Silva, visited a number of sites around the Iraqi capital this morning – including a food warehouse belonging to the World Food Programme (WFP), a power station and sewage treatment plant.

The WFP warehouse and the power plant are under the protection of the coalition forces, which have put a stop to the looting of the facilities, according to a UN spokesman. Even so, technicians have their vehicles and equipment stolen when they go out to repair power lines.

The situation at the Al Rustumia sewage plant is different, however, as it is not protected. Local staff told Mr. Lopes da Silva that looters were operating on a daily basis, compounding the damage caused by the fighting and rendering the plant inoperable. As a result, one million tons of raw sewage are discharged into the Tigris and Diyala Rivers every day.

“You have bad water, you have children with diarrhoea, you have malnutrition,” Mr. Lopes da Silva told journalists, adding that he would bring up the issue of security for the plant with officials from the United States-run Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA). “So we need to address first the security of this site and then we are prepared to re-engage in rehabilitating it.”

Meanwhile in the north of Iraq, a team from the World Health Organization (WHO), along with local officials, delivered two trucks of medical aid worth $43,000 to the Mosul governorate. The shipment included medical supplies, drugs and laboratory items provided under the UN Oil-for-Food programme.