As
WFP
Hands Security
to Official
Linked to Iraq
Bomb, No
Answer But
Pizza Hut
Money
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 22, updated
Oct 24
-- Within the
World Food
Program, staff
complain that
WFP chief
Josette
Sheeran has
put in charge
of security
the UN
official
in charge in
Iraq at the
time of the
deadly Canal
Hotel bombing,
Ramiro Lopes
da Silva.
After
being
contacted with
this and other
complaints,
Inner City
Press five
days ago posed
questions to
WFP's
spokesperson
and others,
including Ms.
Sheeran:
These
are
Press
questions for
WFP for a
story today:
1st,
please
respond to
criticism of
having put
Ramiro Lopes
da Silva in
charge of
security for
WFP, given his
role in Iraq
in connection
with the Canal
Hotel bombing.
Ban
Ki-moon &
Sheeran,
answers on
safety &
finance not
shown (c) UN
Photo
2d,
please
provide a WFP
comment on
what staff
call the cover
up of abusive
threats by
"WFP poster
boy Kevin"
3d,
and
going back
some time,
please provide
an update on
the seizing of
WFP's
Inspector
General's
computer
4th,
please
provide WFP
income to date
from the
program of
Pizza Hut and
Zynga
(creators of
Farmville
video game).
Please
provide
all that you
can during
business hours
Eastern
Standard Time,
thanks.
Ms.
Sheeran, her
auto-responder
said, was too
busy to
respond on
these safety
and financial
transparency
questions,
either on
October 17
when they were
sent or in the
five days
since:
"Executive
Director,
Josette
Sheeran, may
not be able to
read and/or
respond to
your email
immediately."
Spokesman
Gregory Barrow
was more
specific: "I
am away from
the office
until Monday
24 October.
For any urgent
inquiries
while I am
away, please
contact Emilia
Casella,
Global Media
Coordinator."
The
question were
immediately on
October 17
resent to Ms.
Casella,
Global Media
Coordinator,
but were
neither
acknowledge
nor answered.
So
what are the
answers? And
given the
importance of
trying to feed
the world's
hungry, is
this any way
to run an
international
organization?
Watch this
site.
Update
of
October 24,
839 am
-- A full week
after the four
questions were
submitted to
multiple
spokespeople
at WFP, and
two days after
the
above was
published, the
following came
in:
In
response
to your
questions:
DED
Ramiro
Lopes da Silva
is one of
WFP's most
experienced
senior
managers, and
we have the
utmost
confidence in
him.
The
Pizza
Hut / Zynga
partnership
has so far
generated
approximately
US$20,000 for
WFP.
I
have no
further
comment.
Comment:
the "we"
having
confidence if
Mr. Da Silva,
suspended by
the UN after
his role
in the Canal
Hotel bombing
deaths in
Iraq, may
include the
most
senior, but
significantly
not the rest,
of WFP staff.
The Pizza Hut
number seems
low. The
questions have
been left
entirely
unaswered,
after a full
week. For an
international
organization
which requests
and receives
billions of
dollars in
funds from the
public, this
is
entirely
unacceptable.
To be
continued.
, 
