Nepal customs holding up relief efforts, says United Nations

DHAKA, MAY 2 (NsNewsWire) –UN Nepal representative Jamie McGoldrick says material is piling up at Kathmandu airport instead of being distributed, as death toll reaches 6,621

Customs delays are hampering relief efforts in Nepal, the United Nations has said, as the death toll from the earthquake a week ago passed 6,600, reports the guardian.

Nepal exempted tarpaulins and tents from import taxes on Friday, but the UN resident representative Jamie McGoldrick told Reuters the government had to further loosen customs restrictions to deal with the increasing flow of relief material.

“They should not be using peacetime customs methodology,” he said, adding that material was piling up at Kathmandu airport instead of being ferried out to victims.

There was no immediate response from the government but the finance minister, Ram Sharan Mahat, had earlier appealed to international donors to send tents, tarpaulins and basic food supplies, saying some of the items received were of no use.

“We have received things like tuna fish and mayonnaise. What good are those things for us? We need grains, salt and sugar,” he told reporters.