Priorities change for NZ aid team

By KEVIN TAYLOR

The New Zealand Red Cross may send hospital administrators and infrastructure engineers to Iraq.

Last week the organisation said it was considering sending up to eight New Zealand nurses to the war-torn country.

But operations manager Andrew McKie said yesterday that the situation was fluid and it was now trying to find people to act as hospital administrators and possibly infrastructure engineers.

Should a team be formed it may be leaving for Iraq as soon as next week, and would probably number around five.

"Initially it was going to be hands-on field delegates but now they are looking at more hospital administrators and engineers," Mr McKie said.

"They have got all the nurses there, it is just getting the hospitals up and running and getting the systems in place."

The CVs of possible candidates were being sent to Red Cross headquarters in Geneva, he said.

Most would know by the end of the weekend whether they are going to Iraq.

Mr McKie admitted that the Red Cross was having difficulty getting engineers skilled in water and sanitation systems.

He said Iraq's hospital administrators had not been paid since the start of the conflict, and some did not want to leave their homes for fear of looting.

The Red Cross team will be financed by a $1 million Government grant announced last week.

Mr McKie said any unspent money would go to the International Committee of the Red Cross for relief work in Iraq.

The Government announced on Tuesday that New Zealand Defence Force personnel would be sent to Iraq shortly to work on a United Nations de-mining programme.

Herald Feature: Iraq