UN: Sri Lanka Govt. blocking fuel supplies to its Wanni offices

NEW YORK – The United Nations is accusing the Sri Lankan government of starving its humanitarian agencies of much-needed fuel to operate vehicles and also generators which power freezers storing life-saving vaccines and other medicines. The continued power shortages, caused by lack of fuel, will soon affect the preservation of vaccines and essential medicines, the UN warned in a letter to Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa.



The UN, which is engaged in the humanitarian task of providing relief supplies to refugees caught in the crossfire in the north-east, says its operational activities are expected to come to a complete standstill unless there is urgent action. In the letter to Mr. Rajapaksa, the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Frederick Lyons says that since March “none of the UN offices in the Wanni has received their fuel allocation, despite the written approval received from the Commissioner General for Essential Services (CGES) for April, May and now June.”

Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)