Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-15-Speech-4-211"
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"en.20011115.11.4-211"2
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". – Mr President, I should like to thank the Members of Parliament for their kind remarks concerning ECHO and I shall convey these congratulations to Mr Nielson, the Commissioner responsible.
With those decisions on Hurricane Michelle and the Algerian floods, the Commission underlines its determination to address the needs of victims of humanitarian disasters whenever they occur.
Firstly, as far as Hurricane Michelle is concerned, the Commission has been closely monitoring its effects in Central America in the Caribbean area since the beginning of the crisis, in cooperation with our experts and partners in this field. Michelle started on 29 October as a tropical storm off the northern coast of Nicaragua and Honduras, where it caused severe floods. The communication systems proved their efficiency as they were the only working systems that allowed for a quick evaluation in areas of difficult access such as Moskita. On 1 November, ECHO started discussions with the NGOs present in the field to establish emergency systems, particularly in the Moskita region in Honduras and Nicaragua – the areas worst hit.
On 4 November, Michelle became a hurricane that crossed Cuba and touched Jamaica. Fortunately, the local authorities had undertaken timely evacuation measures. ECHO services decided on funding once an initial evaluation of the hurricane damage had been carried out in Cuba.
This decision to allocate EUR 1 050 000, should be approved by the end of this week and will cover the Moskita region in Honduras and Nicaragua, Cuba and Jamaica. The decision will mainly involve the evacuation of people in danger, food aid for Honduras, the provision of temporary shelter in Jamaica and the distribution of water, sanitation and health packages in all countries.
Members of this House have raised two main issues. One concerns Nicaragua. I should like to assure you that all the distributed funds are regularly monitored and no irregularities have been detected so far. That was the assessment of the Parliament delegation that visited Nicaragua.
The second comment concerned Cuba. Some people wanted a revision of the EU Common Position on Cuba, announced on 25 June 2001. But it kept being said Cuba had not been given any humanitarian aid until now. In fact Cuba has benefited from around EUR 125 million in aid since 1993, largely in the humanitarian field, as well as the food security programme and some budget line assistance. But for the time being, the line followed by the Commission is as proposed in the latest European Union Common Position which I have already referred to.
As far as Algeria is concerned, the situation in the country is very complex. There are many different kinds of problems, but I will only refer to the problem of the flooding last weekend.
The European Commission has followed the situation with great attention and concern. President Prodi sent a message to President Bouteflika to express the solidarity of the European Union with the Algerian flood victims. Therefore the Commission, through its humanitarian aid office, has moved quickly in response to the floods.
A decision to allocate EUR 758 800 of humanitarian aid has been taken under the primary emergency procedure to help meet the urgent needs of the victims. The funds are already being used for a range of support measures including temporary shelter, beds, clothing and blankets, water, sanitation and medical assistance. Humanitarian operations funded under this decision will be implemented by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and by two NGOs – Médicins du Monde and Médicins sans Frontières."@en1
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