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USAID food for nearly 30,000 hungry kids in Afghanistan, Pakistan to be destroyed
Food that was supposed to be distributed to 27,000 hungry children in Afghanistan and Pakistan will soon be incinerated following the closure of the US Agency for International Development by President Donald Trump.
Nearly 500 tonnes of high-energy biscuits, to be used as emergency food for malnourished young children, expired this month while sitting in a warehouse in Dubai, a senior US official said on Wednesday.
Under questioning by lawmakers, Michael Rigas, the deputy secretary of state in charge of management, tied the decision to the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which closed its doors on July 1.
“I think that this was just a casualty of the shutdown of USAID,” Rigas said, adding that he was “distressed” that the food went to waste.
The wasted biscuits will be sent to landfills or incinerated in the United Arab Emirates. That will cost the US government an additional $100,000.