Yemen on high alert to combat possible locusts swarm [Archives:2004/793/Front Page]

Mohammed Al-Qadhi
Yemen announced Tuesday that it was ready to challenge any locusts swarming the Red Sea region, Abdu al-Rumaih, Head of Locusts Fight center said.
He pointed out that field teams had been dispatched to the Southern and Western regions of the country which include Tihamah, Lahj, Abyan, Shabwa and Aden Gulf.
Millions of hungry locusts have landed in parts of Israel and moved towards Egypt, reaching Saudi Arabia. Egypt's Agriculture Minister Ahmed al-Leithi denied fresh swarms of locusts were attacking Egypt, noting the ministry received no reports on further locusts that flew on their way to the African coasts.
Speaking during a People's Assembly session in reply to a number of parliamentary questions on locusts, the minister said, “If climatic conditions are okay, we won't see more locusts attacking Egypt.”
Al-Rumaih was quoted as saying that his center already requested the ministry of defense to take measures to combat any possible locust swarm on the country, using helicopters. The center already informed the cabinet concerning emergency plan to combat locusts swarm. He said that according to information Yemen obtained from Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Eritrea, Yemen is possibly to be swarmed by locusts coming from the Western coast of the Red Sea.
However, Yemen is hopeful that the Saudi locusts' fighters' teams will be able to control the locusts swarm that invaded Tabook area as well as the ability of Yemeni people in combating the locusts, mainly in the mountainous areas as people like eating locusts as they did in 1990.

——
[archive-e:793-v:13-y:2004-d:2004-11-25-p:front]