World Food Program Reports 165,347 dead in Tsunami disaster - Operational Update

Total WFP Food Aid Delivered to Date, 7,854 metric tons - Total People Receiving Food Aid, 1,032,500 - Total Dead,
165,347 - Total Displaced, 1,775,264 -


INDONESIA


• Shooting erupted at 3:00 a.m. near the main UN camp for humanitarian aid workers in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh.
Staff were awoken and dressed but the shooting quickly stopped. No casualties were reported.


• The UN was apparently not the target of the shots. Local security said the shooting was in the air by a policeman or
member of the military.


• The total amount of WFP food dispatched from the port of Medan in North Sumatra from 1-9 January stands at 2,192 metric
tons of mixed commodities including rice, biscuits and noodles. A total of 44 tons was sent from Jakarta to Banda Aceh in the
same period and another 32 tons went to the port of Singkil on the west coast of Aceh province.


SRI LANKA


• After reaching its target yesterday of giving a 15-day supply of food aid to 750,000 people, WFP will begin the next
phase of dispatching enough food for a second 15-day period.


• In the first phase of distribution, WFP distributed more than 5,000 metric tons of food, using nearly 500
trucks, to feed the three-quarters of a million people needing food aid because of the tsunami.


• In the next stage of the operation, WFP will dispatch more than 50 trucks a day, seven days a week.


• In addition to new sub-offices in Galle, Ampara, Trincomalee and Batticaloa, WFP will establish a sub-office in
the northernmost city of Jaffna to support operations in the LTTE-controlled north, currently handled by field offices
in Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu.


• An Airbus A300 cargo jet belonging to WFP's corporate partner TNT arrived in Sri Lanka today carrying seven
temporary warehouses. The massive warehouses, measuring 32 by 10 meters and weighing over 35 tons, will be used to
store food and non-food items, and will complement four other temporary warehouses currently in use.


THE MALDIVES


• UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in the Maldives today and met with Maldives President President Maumoon
Abdul Gayoom. The Secretary-General is scheduled to travel by seaplane tomorrow to visit two of the most affected
islands, Kolhufushi and Vilufushi in Meemu Atoll.


• A third shipment of 38 metric tons of fortified biscuits arrived at Male International Airport today. WFP and
UNICEF are looking into using the biscuits to help feed 25,000 schoolchildren in the Maldives over the next eight weeks.



• At a meeting chaired by the Deputy Finance Minister last night, the Government of the Maldives told WFP that
although they do not need further immediate food assistance, they anticipate possible food shortages in March or April.



• WFP is now planning operations in the Maldives based on an estimate of 50,000 people affected by the tsunami, of whom
12,500 are displaced.















THAILAND


• The WFP assessment mission to southern Thailand wrapped up its work today after meeting with the governors of Phuket
and Ranong provinces.


• The team also met with the Directors of Education in Phuket, Phang-nga, Ranong and Krabi provinces to discuss
assistance to school food programs in the affected areas.


• The assessment team will deliver its report on food needs this week; meanwhile provincial officals will provide WFP
with their assessment of school feeding requirements in the three provinces.


REGIONAL


• Operations continue at the new WFP Humanitarian Air Hub at Subang Air Base in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Two C-130
transports left Subang yesterday with shipments of fortified biscuits, bound for Banda Aceh.


For more information please contact:


Greg Barrow, WFP London. Tel: + 44 20 7592 9292, Mob: + 44 7968 008474

gregory.barrowwfp


Heather Hill, WFP Thailand Mob: +66 1701 9208, Mobile + 662659 8690

email: heather.hillwfp


Michael Huggins, WFP Indonesia Mob: +62 811 864383, Thuraya: +881 6315
53604;
email: Jakarta.guest5wfp


Jordan Dey, WFP Sri Lanka. Tel: + 9411 2586244.
email: jordan.deywfp


Jonathan Dumont, WFP Sri Lanka Mob: +39 340 224 9140; Thuraya: +882 165
4203516.
email: jonathan.dumontwfp


Peter Smerdon, WFP/Indonesia Tel: + 6221 5734332, Mob: + 62 811 186923.

E-mail: peter.smerdonwfp


Caroline Hurford, WFP Rome. Tel: + 3906 65132330. Mob: + 393481325018


Trevor Rowe, WFP New York. Mob: +1 646 8241112, office: +1 212 963 5196

email:roweun


Visit our website: wfp. To access WFP's detailed,
up-to-the-minute
maps on the tsunami crisis, go to hewsweb.