Federal, Tigray Interim governments at loggerheads over drought in the region

.After the severe drought of 1985, the worst one has occured this time in Tigray Region –   Getachew Reda, Chief of the Interim Administration

.The information being disseminated that the drought in Tigray Region is ‘coming to a level comparable to the drought occured in 1985’ is completely wrong- Legesse Tulu (PhD), Head of Federal Communication Service Ministry

By Staff Reporter

ADDIS ABABA – (BORKENA) – The President of the Interim Administration of Tigray Region, Getachew Reda, has officially requested the federal government and the international community to extend their hands to stop the drought in the region.

In the statement he made Getachew mentioned that the drought in the region has reached a critical level.

“Famine and death are looming in Tigray,” the president said, adding that this is the worst drought ever happened since the last one occured in 1985.

Getachew expressed concern that the current drought and famine, combined with the recently held bloody war in Tigray  Region, could cause severe danger in the region.

Disruption of Tigray’s economy and the basic developments of the region, especially the destruction of health facilities and the displacement of millions of people from their homes, have exposed the residents of Tigray Region to grave hardship, according to Getachew.

“Therefore, the interim administration, the Federal Government and the international community should fulfil their legal and moral obligations to save the people from hunger and death that is looming in Tigray,” he said.

“The Federal Government and the International Community should do their part to stop the looming humanitarian crisis,” he said.

The Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission of the Interim Administration of Tigray Region said that the drought looming in the region is worse than the one occured some 39 years back, in 1985.

It is to be recalled that the elderly people of Tigray Region said earlier that the current drought “is worse than the occurrence of 1985”.

However, what has been disclosed by the Interim Government of Tigray Region regarding the drought has not pleased the Federal Government. The statement made by Head of the Communication Service Ministry, Legesse Tulu (PhD.), dismissed the claim of Tigray Region as “false”. The Minister said that “it is rather the Federal Government that should come with such a call”.

The Federal Government said that what has been “exaggerated” by the Interim Government concerning “the drought in the region as it had reached to the level where it can be compared to the drought of 1985” is “completely wrong”.

The Minister said that when such a situation occurs, it is the Federal Government’s Disaster Risk Management Council that is responsible to announce it. Although the Council has confirmed that drought has occurred in four Zones of Tigray Region, there is no confirmation about its similarity with that of 1985.

The Minister said that the government “is currently providing sufficient food supply to the Tigray Region”.

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