US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1123

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 001123 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS USAID/W 
STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB 
NSC FOR EABRAMS, SMCCORMICK, STAHIR-KHELI, JDWORKEN 
USAID FOR USAID/A, DCHA/AA, DCHA/RMT, DCHA/FFP 
USAID FOR DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA 
USAID FOR USAID/AA:NATSIOS 
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA:WGARVELINK, BMCCONNELL, KFARNSWORTH 
USAID FOR ANE/AA:WCHAMBERLIN 
ROME FOR FODAG 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH 
DOHA FOR MSHIRLEY 
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART 
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREF, IZ, WFP 
SUBJECT:  TFIZ01: DART ASSESSMENT OF FOOD, WATER, AND HEALTH 
NEEDS IN UMM QASR 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  On 27 March, the DART, with assistance from Coalition 
forces, conducted an assessment of the food, water, and 
health situation in Umm Qasr.  With regard to the Coalition 
military presence in Umm Qasr, the DART was impressed by the 
priority being placed on providing security to the 
community, involving the community in security and 
assistance decisions, and respecting the local population's 
desire to help themselves.  While there are no urgent, life- 
threatening needs at the moment, the population of Umm Qasr 
is lacking protein-rich food and is dependant on water 
distributions.  End Summary. 
 
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OVERVIEW 
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2.  Although the atmosphere in Umm Qasr is marked by 
wariness, by the afternoon, people were out on the streets. 
The Coalition forces report that trust is improving daily, 
but it is obvious that the community, with the events of 
1991 in clear memory, is waiting for proof that the regime 
is, in fact, finished. 
 
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SECURITY AND ACCESS 
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3.  The DART was repeatedly assured by Coalition forces that 
security in Umm Qasr was under control and a humanitarian 
presence was welcomed by the military.  However, presently 
there is no means to coordinate humanitarian assistance from 
Kuwait City at the Kuwait - Iraq border.  This issue needs 
to be addressed immediately. 
 
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PORT 
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4.  Heavy silting was visible in an aerial photograph of the 
New Port waterway.  Two dredgers were located that, while 
not seriously damaged, are currently inoperable.  However, 
parts appear to be available on site and repairs are 
underway.  Lack of dredgers will not affect the arrival of 
the Sir Galahad, which has a shallow draft.  The Sir Galahad 
is scheduled to arrive on 28 March following a one-day delay 
due to the discovery of mines in the waterway at the lower 
end of the Old Port.  The ship is carrying approximately 230 
metric tons of food and nonfood commodities. 
 
5.  Two back-up generators appear to be of sufficient power 
to establish a separate electrical grid for the entire port. 
They are not yet operational, due to a lack of ignition 
capability.  The Coalition forces are working to resolve the 
issue. 
 
6.  There are five mobile vacuators at the port.  The main 
(silo) vacuator appears undamaged.  Two appear to be 
inoperable, but the remainder appear to have been used 
within the past few weeks.  They are diesel operated and as 
of 27 March have not been operated. 
 
7.  The approximately 24 port silos have been swept for 
mines and are reportedly empty.  The warehouses have also 
been swept and reported to be empty with the exception of 
approximately 200 bags of sugar and salt. 
 
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FOOD 
---- 
 
8.  Despite the frenzy that accompanied Kuwaiti 
distributions in Safwan on 26 March, Coalition forces and 
local residents report that food is not an urgent need at 
this time.  Households reportedly have up to six-month 
stores of staple commodities (flour/rice).  However, there 
is a need for canned meat.  The Coalition forces described 
Umm Qasr's population as "protein-starved". 
 
9.  Kuwaiti food boxes delivered to Umm Qasr were warehoused 
by the Coalition forces.  They have worked to establish an 
organized community-based distribution process, entailing 
one community representative from each of Umm Qasr's 85 
neighborhoods.  The representatives will collect food and 
distribute it in their specific blocks.  The Coalition 
forces are working closely with four community leaders, 
including a schoolteacher and the hospital's medical 
director.  It is hoped that this system might provide a more 
accurate head count in the town.  If the 85 community heads 
represent the entire town, then there would be between 470 
and 530 people living in each, if the total population of 
Umm Qasr is between 45,000 to 50,000, as has been reported 
to the Coalition forces. 
 
10.  Forty Public Distribution System (PDS) agents are 
reported to have either fled Umm Qasr, or are laying low. 
The DART was unable to obtain community-level verification 
of the status of the PDS agents.  The Coalition forces have 
been told that the distribution agents were members of the 
Baath Party and not trusted by the population.  It is not 
clear if community distrust applies to all agents, but the 
Coalition forces indicated that they were not pursuing the 
re-establishment of the PDS system. 
 
11.  The Coalition forces have supplied water to town 
residents for the past two days via two mobile tankers, 
which drive to different parts of the city for distribution. 
Bottled water is opened prior to distribution to limit the 
possibility that it is re-sold.  The Coalition forces appear 
willing to continue water distributions until the pipeline 
is turned on, but welcomed the possibility of tankers 
organized by UNICEF taking over until the water pipeline 
comes on line. 
 
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HEALTH 
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12.  A preliminary health assessment of the hospital in the 
town of Umm Qasr revealed adequate pharmaceutical stocks for 
three months, with the exception of medicines for certain 
chronic care diseases.  Patients who need more treatment are 
referred elsewhere. The hospital sees approximately 10 
malnourished children each week, although the staff did not 
specify their diagnosis criteria.  While the severe 
malnutrition cases are referred to Basra, moderate or mild 
cases are treated with commercial infant formula.  At the 
time of the DART visit, there were four inpatients, two 
recovering from war-wounds.  Of the seven doctors at the 
hospital, only four remain. Similarly, 45 of the 70 nurses 
are still at the hospital.  The facility is dirty, poorly 
equipped, and operating off a generator.  The hospital staff 
requested protein-enhanced canned food.  The administrator 
seemed to be caught between the need to reinforce the 
regime's assertion that three months' medical stores had 
been provided and the desire to wait two to three weeks to 
let things settle down before putting together a list of the 
hospital's needs. 
 
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ELECTRICITY 
------------ 
 
13.  There are several large generators in Umm Qasr town, 
which combined with the generators at the port, may be 
sufficient to provide electricity to most of the town, 
according to the Coalition forces.  The town's main power 
source is Umm Qasr, but residents reported a deterioration 
of service in past months.  There is evidence that many 
residents are hooked into existing generators, but the 
Coalition forces say they will not know the coverage until 
the generators are turned on.  The main hospital has a 
functioning generator, and the Coalition forces reported 
that there has not been a request for fuel from the 
hospital. 
 
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SCHOOLS 
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14.  At least 23 schools (18 primary) exist in Umm Qasr. 
Many were being used for storage, and the Coalition forces 
are in the process of clearing out large amounts of 
ordinance.  Community leaders are being encouraged to re- 
open schools as they are cleared. 
 
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PROTECTION 
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15.  General unrest after the fighting in Umm Qasr was 
dominated by looting of government and regime supporter 
properties.  The Coalition forces believe that 
revenge/retribution beatings and killings are probably 
occurring, although no physical evidence has yet been 
encountered.  Baath Party members have been arrested and/or 
are surrendering to the Coalition forces.  The hospital 
director either did not understand the protection questions 
being put to him or did not feel comfortable discussing the 
subject. 
 
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CONCLUSIONS 
------------ 
 
16.  The DART identified the following challenges for 
providing humanitarian assistance in Umm Qasr: shortage of 
local interpreters, especially female; reaching vulnerable 
populations; ensuring proper representation in 
leadership/contacts; establishing a new system/staff for 
World Food Program distribution; managing a possible 
migration from Basra if distribution begins in Um Qasr and 
people able to leave Basra. 
 
JONES