European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 15, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine men unload emergency Relief supplies at red sea port ofas Sab Ethiopia. A photo praised for famine Relief efforts by Jerry Gray associated press More than a year into an International Effort to alleviate famine Ethiopia has compiled a creditable record i distributing the flood of foreign food Aid say diplomats and Relief workers. Allegations have periodically cropped up in the West especially in the United states that massive amounts of food have been diverted to feed the army or enrich bureaucrats in the marxist government. But Western Aid workers United nations officials and diplomats interviewed there generally praised Ethiopia s record in distributing the More than one million tons of food assistance delivered since late 1984. Some said they believed Ethiopia had done considerably better than other countries faced with similar disasters in recent years. As far As diversion our people say they have never known of great amounts of Aid food disappearing said Kevin Delany spokesman in Ethiopia for the new York based Catholic Relief services the largest of the non governmental Relief agencies operating in Ethiopia. Our logistics Guy says that there is much More food disappearing on the docks of new York and Houston than anywhere in  the . Office of emergency operations in Ethiopia agreed with the Catholic Relief services assessment and estimated that 95 percent of All food Aid delivered to Ethiopia could be accounted for. In virtually any Relief operation officials said at least 5 percent of the food Aid can be expected to go astray. It has been remarkable How Little food has been diverted said Vag Hareide a norwegian who is rehabilitation coordinator for the . Office. Said a Western Diplomat there have always been allegations As Long As this Relief Effort has been going on. But we be never had evidence that any of our food has been  he spoke on condition he not be identified by name or country. Because of the risk of misuse of humanitarian Aid Western donor governments have insisted on As thorough an accounting As possible. Voluntary agencies Manning feeding centers have kept track of the food and other supplies As they arrived. And in december 1984, the United nations sent in its first teams of monitors to travel throughout Ethiopia making spot checks on Grain shipments from unloading at seaports to arrival at feeding centers. The . Office said ethiopian Leader Mengistu Haile Mariam readily agreed to the monitoring system. In the earlier months of the Relief operation which got under Way in Earnest in late 1984, the government was embarrassed by highly publicized reports of food piling up and rotting at assay its main red sea port. Some reports even spoke of food Aid being lifted off assay docks and put on ships bound for the soviet Union which has supplied Ethiopia with some $2.5 billion Worth of arms since the late 1970s. But those reports were unsubstantiated. There was one bad loss of food last year during a Freak rainstorm that destroyed eight or nine thousand tons. That s the worst Case of spoilage that we Are aware of said Delany. The torrential rain on May 5, 1985, lasted Only an hour but paralysed the port of assay for 24 hours. There was no drainage system and some uncovered stacks of wheat were left standing in water three feet deep. Otherwise Aid workers say Ethiopia has overcome most of the logistical problems of dealing with Aid that inundated its ports and overtaxed its bureaucracy. For one thing experience led to greater efficiency. For another a . Truck Fleet began operating in Early december helping relieve backlogs. Ethiopia about the size of Texas Oklahoma and new Mexico combined has Only about 2,500 Miles of paved roads. Air drops were needed to get food to Remote areas normally reached Only by pack animals. At the height of the famine induced by a Long drought finally broken by Rains in 1985, More than 8 million of Ethiopia s 42 million people were believed affected. An estimated one million died. The . Food and agriculture organization now estimates about 5.8 million ethiopians will still need outside food Aid this year. Today the most frequently heard complaint is that Ethiopia is changeling food Aid to its controversial resettlement villages. The government has so far resettled about 600,000 people from the Barren North to the More Fertile but malaria plagued and humid South and Southwest. Ethiopian officials say they eventually Hope to resettle one million people although the program has been suspended since december for Lack of resources. Critics of the program including a French medical group allege that tens of thousands have died of malaria and other causes in what they say is a poorly planned dangerous and forcible relocation. Secessionists in Northern Ethiopia s Eritrea Region contend the government is trying to depopulate the North to deprive separatist guerrillas of support. The United states largest single donor to the ethiopian Relief Effort has forbidden use of its food assistance in the resettlement program. The government contends Only food from its own Relief and rehabilitation commission is used. The government also has been accused of withholding emergency food shipments to the embattled North. The United nations Hareide said however that food is reaching people on both sides of the guerrilla conflict and Delany said Catholic Relief services has been sending 3,000 tons of food a month into Eritrea. There Are always logistical problems because of the Security situation but food is getting through Delany said. Saturday March 15, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13