WHO dismissive of fire foul play

ISLAMABAD - The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not fixed responsibility regarding the last weeks fire incident at one of its warehouses, as the international organisation stands convincingly dismissive of foul play in this regard. Amid the reports that some WHO officials, allegedly involved in serious embezzlements in humanitarian goods, had set one of the international organisations godowns ablaze in order to remove proofs of their malpractice. The WHOs management does not deem it necessary to hold an internal inquiry and initiate action against anybody, as the incident, according to the management, had occurred due to an 'electrical problem. Last Friday, the WHO warehouse containing humanitarian equipment located in Sector I-9/3 had caught fire that completely damaged the godown. Talking to journalists then, the WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Guido Sabatinelli had not rejected the possibility of foul play saying that the matter would be investigated in detail. He had said that the fire had damaged humanitarian goods worth about over $ 400,000. When approached on Wednesday, Dr Sabatinelli confirmed the information that there was no initiative taken on part of the international organisation regarding conduction of an inquiry and initiation of action accordingly against the responsible elements. It appears that it was an electrical problem so nobody is to be blamed. We may refer this case to the police for official inquiry, the WHO Pakistans chief said. Regarding the reports about embezzlements, he said, There were no embezzlements. It was just an electric short-circuit. When asked to comment on the reported absence of an effective fire-fighting mechanism in the WHO godown to control the spread of fire in time, Dr Sabatinelli said 15 fire extinguishers were installed in the burnt godown But fire went to such a proportion that the people inside could not use the extinguishers and had to escape to save themselves. He said the damage assessment was underway and the primary and secondary health care kits were mostly burnt in consequence of Fridays fire. A visit to the damaged warehouse suggested that the United Nations Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding warehouse management were not being followed. On the SOPs evident violation, this journalist asked, Despite all that happened, you still think that it was nobodys fault and the UNs SOPs were completely followed? After a few moments pause, the WHO Pakistan representative responded with slight hesitation, Yes, yes... yes of course, SOPs were followed. TheNation observed while visiting the burnt warehouse that the long, dampened, tunnel-like godown was kept in untidy conditions with humanitarian goods haphazardly dumped. The quality of stacking was extremely poor with minimum focus to prevent damage or loss. On the other hand, the UNs SOP number three titled The store premises regarding warehouse management says, A well-maintained and orderly warehouse not only looks good, but helps to protect the stored food from damage and loss.

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