Today, the National Disaster Management Monitoring Committee of the Legislature-Parliament has visited WFP warehouses in Nepalgunj. They have taken samples of both rice and yellow split peas.
While the rice warehoused in Nepalgunj is meant to be sent for distribution to earthquake affected areas, the yellow split peas were not intended for distribution as they had been rejected by WFP and are in the process of being sent back to the supplier.
WFP ordered 1,000 metric tons of yellow split peas for the victims of the earthquake. When the shipment arrived in Nepalgunj, the WFP regional food technologist came from Bangkok to inspect it. She found that the pulses were not meeting WFP quality specifications. On 17 June 2015, the Director of the WFP Food Procurement Division at Rome Headquarters cancelled the contract.
In the meantime, WFP has purchased another 1,000 metric tons of yellow split peas from Nepali suppliers, which are in the process of being delivered to earthquake-affected victims.
For more information please contact: Iolanda Jaquemet, WFP/Kathmandu, iolanda.jaquemet@wfp.org, Mobile (+977) 9802 039 678