Yemen Government Declines to Transport Wheat Shipment From Poland

The Yemeni government has declined to transport 40000 tonnes of wheat from the Polish Authority to Yemen, saying that it cannot bear the transportation fees, an official letter obtained by Sheba Intelligence has shown.

The Aden-based Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation issued a letter on September 7, asking the World Food Program to receive the wheat shipment from the Polish Authority and transfer it to Yemen.

The ministry's letter said the Yemen Standardization, Metrology, and Quality Control Organization inspected the shipment and confirmed its conformity with the specifications.

However, the ministry said, "due to the lack of the financial means to transport it", Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek authorized the WFP to do the task.

This decision has shocked many government officials, including Yemeni Parliament members. Ali Ashal, a member of the Parliament, pointed out the price of the Polish wheat shipment is estimated at US$14 million. He wondered about the logicality of the Yemeni government's inability to provide US$2 million for transporting the wheat shipment.

According to Ashal, a contract was signed with a merchant, and he will transport the shipment in return for taking half of it. This means the merchant will earn US$7 million, Ashal said.

Last month, Sheba Intelligence published a report about the Yemeni government's corruption in different sectors, including oil, electricity, and telecommunications. Yemeni observers say that the failure to transport the wheat shipment from Poland is another government failure.