The Hague/New York: Participating countries at a United Nations donor conference could raise just about a quarter of the amount required to deal with the FSO Safer, which threatens to spill more than a million barrels of oil into the Red Sea if it is not addressed soon.
A total of $144 million is needed, according to UN Emergency Relief Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly but the participating countries pledged $33 million (31 million euros), the United Nations and the Netherlands as co-hosts, stated.
“At this stage, I’m told by my colleagues that we have about $40 million on hand for the work that needs to happen. We were told… we were seeking basically $84 million or so for the four months of work that we need. And so, we have a little bit less than half of that. We will need more money in May, but we believe that this is a strong start to the push that we need for urgent funding, and we will be seeking more money from there,” UN Secretary-General’s deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in New York.
At the Hague, except for Qatar, only European countries, including Germany, Switzerland and France, pledged funds. According to reports, the UN and the Netherlands plan to try to raise more funds this month.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who delivered a video message to the pledging event on May 11, 2022, said that the UN plan for the Safer can stop this disaster before it starts. “Now we need the funds to implement the plan, he said, and urged all Yemen’s partners to provide full funding so that work can start immediately. “There isn’t a moment to lose,” he said.
Incidentally, the Houthis were reportedly very critical of the UN for apparently not providing an operational plan to maintain the tanker. This was more than two months after they signed a memorandum of understanding on the arrangements. Haq though said that the UN had a “workable plan that has been agreed to with all the participants, and we’re proceeding on the basis of the understandings that we have reached”. He said so, they were trying to get the oil offloaded into another facility, and it was urgent to do that before the FSO Safer tanker breaks up.
– global bihari bureau
