Egyptian Official: Flow of aid to Gaza continues through customs

CAIRO, Jan 23 (KUNA) -- Minister of Finance Dr. Mohammad Maait stressed on Tuesday the need to continue customs facilitations to deliver relief loaded trucks to Gaza without any restrictions.

The Egyptian Ministry of Finance issued a statement saying that Minister Maait reviewed the efforts of the customs authority to instantly release humanitarian and relief aid shipments in a way that helps facilitate aid flow to Gaza.
Minister Maait ordered to continue the coordination with all concerned authorities to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza through custom ports, where Egyptian ports work to ease relief shipments and direct them to Rafah Border Crossing as quick as possible.
He stressed the need to combine national and international efforts and strengthen coordination with the concerned institutions in order to accelerate customs release and ensure the sustainability of the transit of tons of food, medicine, medical supplies and other relief items to continue to meet the basic needs of the Palestinians.
On his part, the head of the customs authority Al-Shahat Ghatoury said that the authority cooperated with various institutions to send humanitarian aid to Gaza and do whatever it takes to facilitate customs procedures.
He added that the customs authority was committed to exempting relief shipments from tariff and transporting them to the Rafah crossing. (end) asm.dss.