By : Mike van Ginkel

INTRODUCTION:

• The devastating floods in Mozambique resulted in large sectors of the population being stranded homeless and without food or potable water on islands of higher ground.
• The Aero Club of South Africa was approached by the Mozambican Aero Club to assist with transportation of goods from a base in South Africa to an airstrip in Mozambique thereby relieving the helicopters of this task and freeing them up to distribute the goods to the remoter areas not possessing landing strips.
• Thus the "Air Bridge" Mercy Flight Project was established.

The initial start up of the operation was made possible due to:

• Pledges of R100 000 each for aviation fuel and oil from both Engen and BP, followed by a further sponsorship of R60 000 from Shell.
• Co-operation from the South African Civil Aviation Authority and the use of the CAA De Havilland Beaver and pilot.
• The voluntary services of pilots and their aircraft.
• Special border concessions for Air Bridge pilots giving blanket passport clearances to short-cut customs and immigration procedures.
• Special dispensation from the Governor of Gaza Province to fly directly to Chibuto without clearing customs in Mozambique.
• The use of the Forest Fire Associations facilities at Nelspruit.
• Pledges from various organisations to supply and transport foodstuffs, medical supplies, water, blankets, etc.

• The "Air Bridge" is clearly the most secure and cost effective means of distributing flood relief goods directly into the Mozambique disaster areas with a close on 100% success rate of getting goods to their intended destination.
• Due to the fact that the supply chain bypasses the Maputo bureaucracy, distribution time is kept to a minimum.
• Until the road infrastructure is re-established the "Air Bridge" project is a vital gateway to the flood stricken areas.
• Due to the above advantages the "Air Bridge" Mercy Flight Project deserves adequate funding to continue its efforts.

• Nelspruit selected as the South African base due to its infrastructure and proximity to Chibuto in Mozambique, a distance of 152 nautical miles.
• The presence of a customs and immigration office also serves to make Nelspruit a logical choice.
• A registrar of 90 civilian aircraft with pilots available for voluntary service has been compiled. These range from ultralight aircraft to Kingairs.
• To date an average of 5 to 8 aircraft have been in operation at any one time.
• Pilots are not remunerated in any way for their services or the use of their aircraft, their services are completely voluntary and they are only provided with fuel, food and accommodation when necessary.
• Flying time varies from 2 to 4 hours for the round trip to Chibuto, depending on the type of aircraft.
• The operation has a ground team in Chibuto that controls the security and distribution of the goods with the help of the local boy scouts. They also provide daily weather updates.
• Doctor Alberto Silva (a resident of Xai Xai) arranges transport to Xai Xai.
• The goods are sorted, stock counted and stored in Xai Xai.
• The goods are then allocated and distributed in the Xai Xai and surrounding areas on a need priority basis.
• In the first two weeks of operation over 30 tons of flood relief goods were delivered - this figure now stands at 150 000kgs.
• The above was accomplished in often extremely bad weather conditions with some days being completely unflyable and on several occasions flights having been forced to turn back due to bad weather conditions.
• Continued support from donations and further sponsors has funded the operation of this humanitarian project that has helped many in a desperate situation.

Whilst the present operation is performing a vital function, it is far from fulfilling the total requirement in the disaster areas. The constraints preventing this are as follows:

• The running costs of the aircraft (excl. fuel).
• Insufficient funds for fuel, running costs of aircraft and infrastructure requirements.
• The lack of funds for the above is creating a delay in moving goods resulting in an insufficient amount of storage space to house the backlog.
• Flying being hampered by bad weather - although this has now improved.

• The road infrastructure, severely damaged by the floods, is still virtually non-existent and although the floodwaters have started to subside it will be take many months to re-establish the link to the central and northern provinces. It will also take many months before subsistence farming can supply the food requirements of the local people. It is therefore imperative that continued food supplies, medical supplies and blankets reach the flood areas for the next few months.
• Most donations towards the project have been in the form of supplies and not financial resources. The lack of funds is now restricting the operation and urgent funding is required to move more than 100 tons of emergency supplies presently stockpiled in Nelspruit - with more arriving daily.


• The project will continue to seek funding from all sectors in order to continue the operation and to cover the running costs of pilot owned aircraft.
• A professional infrastructure needs to be instituted.
• Maintain the voluntary nature of pilots hours flown.
• At this stage it is estimated that the relief operations will have to continue for at least 6 months and possibly longer as it is important that the operation be extended to cater for all the flood victims in the area.