- Title: [SW News] (ADDIS ABABA - XINHUA) Ethiopia Does Not Need Eritrean Ports: PM
- From:[]
- Date :[Thursday, April 13, 2000 4:07 PM EST ]
Ethiopia Does Not Need Eritrean Ports: PM
Story Filed: Thursday, April 13, 2000 4:07 PM EST
ADDIS ABABA (April 13) XINHUA - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi reiterated here
on Wednesday that his country does not need ports of Eritrea to transport relief food from
the world community.
Speaking at a press conference, Meles said Ethiopia is able to transport the food
required to save the famine victims if assistance is made available at the ports of
Djibouti and Berbera of Somalia.
If effective use of the ports is made, there is no need to use other ports, he told
Catherine Bertini, executive director of the Rome-based World Food Program.
Bertini arrived in Ethiopia Tuesday to gather information about the current drought
situation in the country.
Despite the drought that has been continuing for three years, the prime minister said
the government has done all it could within the limit of resources available to the
country.
The Ethiopian government has made a lot of progress in terms of grain production, he
said, adding that "it is because we have made such progress that we are able to buy
up to 100,000 tons of grain locally to cover some our requirements."
Ethiopia harvested roughly 100 million quintals of grain in fiscal 1998, roughly 80
million in 1999 and about 85 million this year, the prime minister said.
"We will speed up process of development in the country so that we will be able to
feed ourselves," he said, stressing that Ethiopia can realize food self-sufficiency
in the future.
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