Drought: Paper Says No Need for Foreign Help
11-Aug-2009
Drought: Paper Says No Need for Foreign Help
11-Aug-2009
Syrian officials and civil society can help stop the deterioration of living conditions in the drought-hit eastern parts of the country, wrote Asaad Aboud, editor-in chief of the state-run Al-Thawra daily in an August 5 editorial.
A severe drought that has hit the eastern provinces of Syria for the past three years has cost the livelihoods of more than 800,000 people, according to Red Cross and Red Crescent officials.
Aboud said that the crisis caused by the drought should not be a reason for western powers to try to infiltrate Syrian society, a possible reference to relief offered by other countries to alleviate the effects of the crisis. He criticised articles in western media about the drought, hinting that they had undermined the management of the crisis by Syrian authorities.
Aboud said that Syrian officials were as concerned about the internal situation in the country as they were by foreign policy. The Syrian authorities based their internal and external roles on sound administration as well as a developed and balanced economy.
President Bashar al-Assad as well as the government and the leadership of the ruling Baath party were preoccupied with the dangerous situation that has hit Syria and will deal with it, Aboud said.
He argued that the cost of food and medicine which usually go to waste in Syria every year could be used to save many villages in the country from poverty, adding that Syrians can rely on themselves to overcome the crisis without help from outside.
A severe drought that has hit the eastern provinces of Syria for the past three years has cost the livelihoods of more than 800,000 people, according to Red Cross and Red Crescent officials.
Aboud said that the crisis caused by the drought should not be a reason for western powers to try to infiltrate Syrian society, a possible reference to relief offered by other countries to alleviate the effects of the crisis. He criticised articles in western media about the drought, hinting that they had undermined the management of the crisis by Syrian authorities.
Aboud said that Syrian officials were as concerned about the internal situation in the country as they were by foreign policy. The Syrian authorities based their internal and external roles on sound administration as well as a developed and balanced economy.
President Bashar al-Assad as well as the government and the leadership of the ruling Baath party were preoccupied with the dangerous situation that has hit Syria and will deal with it, Aboud said.
He argued that the cost of food and medicine which usually go to waste in Syria every year could be used to save many villages in the country from poverty, adding that Syrians can rely on themselves to overcome the crisis without help from outside.
