Hodeidah Port Represents Lifeline of More than 20 Million Person: Transport Minister

YemenExtra

SH.A.

Transport Minister Zakaria al-Shami said on Wednesday that Hodeidah port represents the lifeline of more than 20 million person, providing them food, medicine and fuel.

The Minister held in a press conference by the Yemeni Red Sea Ports Corporation denied the allegations of the coalition about preventing the entry of ships to the port of Hodeidah. “These allegations are false and purposely to mislead the public opinion,” he said.

Pointed out that 70% of humanitarian aid enters Yemen through the port and is being distributed under UN supervision to all areas of Yemen even under the occupation authorities.

He added that “the objective of the Saudi-led coalition from occupying Hodeidah is to make the port as unsafe as other ports under its control, which deprive the Yemeni people relief aid provided by organizations.

Hodeidah, the fourth largest city in Yemen, sits on the east coast of the country about 280 miles from where I was born on the Gulf of Aden. Back then, it was known mostly for importing coffee, dates, cotton and machinery into the country.

Now, this historically peaceful city has been making headline news for the lifeline it is providing to 70% of ordinary Yemeni people who have had their lives devastated by the ongoing war. This lifeline is on the verge of being destroyed and with it, the lives of 11 million children across Yemen are at risk.