Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jul 21, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Archbishop Mario Maulion of Parana, Argentina, expressed regret this week at the loss of more than 100,000 pounds of groceries, which had to be destroyed because they had spoiled and had been infested by rodents.
The food was incinerated several weeks ago after having been in storage for an undue amount of time in warehouses provided by the military. The roofs of the buildings are in poor condition and leak in many areas. Investigations into the matter have pointed to negligence on the part of some government officials.
“It is sad that such a situation has taken place,” the archbishop said. “Beyond the emerging blame” on the part of those who were in charge, “this is in fact something very sad given the needs that exist.”
Archbishop Maulion said measures should be taken to keep the problem from happening again and to ensure that such assistance is delivered to people as soon as possible.
“I don’t want blame anyone without knowing all the facts. But this is something that we must obviously pay attention to, especially so that it doesn’t happen again, and so that people can receive what they really need,” he stated.