SECOND SUPPLEMENTARY MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED
BY THE DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
MOZAMBIQUE
Thank you for your letter of 23 March listing
additional questions raised by the IDC in relation to the Mozambique
enquiry. I list the answers below in numerical order.
1. On Saturday 26 February DFID telephoned
the MoD resident clerk at 20:00 hours to ascertain if the UK had
any military assets within the region and in particular if HMS
Ocean (the helicopter carrier which had been of such value in
Central America) was in the vicinity of Mozambique. DFID was informed
that the nearest assets were 3,000 miles away (no indication was
given from MoD as to HMS Ocean's location). At this stage DFID
did not enquire what the assets were or how long they would take
to get to Mozambique. On Monday 28 February, the Secretary of
State informed the House of Commons of this in her response to
the Private Notice Question on Mozambique.
2(a) The MoD contacted the Department at
09:00 hours on Tuesday 29 February to ask if we required the use
of UK military assets. DFID was increasingly concerned about the
deteriorating situation in Mozambique and asked what assets could
be made available.
2(b) The MoD made it clear that it was a
prerequisite to the deployment of any UK military asset to send
a recce team to Mozambique. DFID authorised the deployment of
the MoD recce team on the morning of 29 February. Late that afternoon
the decision not to deploy UK military assets was taken based
on the costings at that time. It was necessary to authorise and
pay for the sending of a recce team for DFID to be in a position
to commission MoD assets at any time during the emergency.
3(a) On Tuesday 29 February (15:00 hours)
DFID was informed by MoD of the following available assets and
approximate costings:
| 4 Puma helicopters—14 days/350 hours flying
| £1.05 million |
| Antonov 124 to provide airlift there and back
| £500,000 |
| 100 person Puma support attachment—14 days
| £210,000 |
| 2 Hovercraft and 10 rigid raiders and 30 crewmen (Royal Marines)—14 days
| £63,000 |
| 3 C-130 aircraft to deploy and recover above
| £215,000 |
| 40 person HQ—14 days | £84,000
|
| 3 C-130 to deploy and recover above | £215,000
|
| Total | £2.337 million
|
Later the same day the availability of the Fort George was
mentioned and that afternoon a verbal quote in the region of £500,000
provided.
3(b) A revision of the above costings for the four Puma
helicopters and support personnel was received by DFID on Wednesday
1 March. The revised cost totalled £1.15 million and was
broken down as follows:
| Puma flying hours, 350 flying hours @ £2,721 per hour
| £950,000 |
| Antonov 124 to provide airlift | £480,000
|
| Personnel and equipment deployment | £260,000
|
| Personnel subsistence | £70,000
|
The above costings total £1.76 million. However, the
MoD offset the cost of a planned exercise in Norway thus reducing
the overall cost to £1.15 million.
3(c) The cost estimates (shown below and based on a deployment
of 14 days in the region and 17 day transit to and from Mozambique)
for the re-deployment of Fort George were received on Wednesday
1 March. (These varied from the verbal cost estimates received
on 29 February from the MoD which indicated that ship costs would
be in the region of £500,000.) Costs were estimated by MoD
as follows:
| Ship costs 31 days at £9,000 per day Total
| £279,000 |
| Sea King flying costs (560 hours at £2,000 per hour)
| £1.12 million |
4(a). The four Puma helicopters were despatched on Friday
3 March at 21:00 hours. The departure was delayed by 24 hours
due to engine trouble on the first Antonov 124—and slowness
of loading the replacement aircraft due to high winds. The first
two Pumas commenced operations at 08:00 on Sunday 5 March. The
second pair started operations at 08:00 hours on Monday 6 March.
The four Pumas were used primarily for the movement of relief
supplies. Local discussions between DFID and UN staff regarding
the length of the four MoD Pumas deployment led us to conclude
that, given the increased availability of commercial helicopters
and the re-establishment of land routes the four Pumas should
be withdrawn on Wednesday 19 March. At the same time DFID agreed
further funding for the five civilian helicopters that had been
originally chartered in the region on 29 February.
4(b). The MOD was requested by DFID to re-deploy the
Fort George from the Gulf to Mozambique on 2 March at 17:00 hours.
This decision was made despite the nine days sailing time because
of the fear of further flooding in the North and the availability
of a substantial amount of aviation fuel on board the ship. She
began operations at 06:00 hours on Saturday 11 March. The ship
and its helicopters have been used primarily to move and deliver
humanitarian supplies. The ship remained off the coast of Mozambique
on Friday 24 March when she started back to her duty station in
the Gulf. The decison to allow the RFA to move back to the Gulf
was taken following further discussions between DFID and UN staff
which again concluded that there was a sufficient number of commercial
helicopters available.
5. Of the five civilian helicopters located locally and
regionally by DFID on 29 February, four were used in search/rescue
and evacuation activities and all were used for the transportation
of essential humanitarian supplies. No details are available as
to number of people rescued by these helicopters as the aircrews
were too busy to keep detailed flight logs. All five are still
operational in Mozambique with continued funding by DFID.
Department for International Development
4 April 2000
| 
