Speaking about the Indian Battalion’s involvement in humanitarian activities in Sector Centre, Col. Bhattacharya said: "We have involved ourselves in diverse activities which benefit the population in our area of responsibility. We first worked out which areas the majority of the population will derive maximum benefit from and we decided on health care. So we decided to focus a lot of our attention there. Our doctors and the paramedics work in 17 different places all over the Sector in both countries." He added that all patients, be they Ethiopian or Eritrean are treated the same and provided with the same level of care.

In addition to their medical clinics, the Indian troops also provide water to people in remote places within the sector and have set up water points where the local population can fetch water without having to walk for miles. INDBAT engineers are also involved in road building and maintenance. Col. Bhattacharya also explained that members of his troops were also teaching computer skills to young people in the sector, adding that he was particularly proud of his troops school-feeding programme.

Though he is proud of the contribution that his troops are making to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Sector Centre, Col. Bhattacharya strongly belives that more should be done. The Sector Commander has therefore called for more funds to be allocated to UNMEE’s Quick Impact Projects (QIP) as that would bring meaningful improvement to people’s lives. "We were looking forward to more QIPs in the Sector, I hope that UNMEE will be able to make the funds available which will ensure we can build more schools which would improve the education process in both the countries," he said.

NEW SECTOR WEST COMMANDER READY TO FACE PEACEKEEPING CHALLENGES

Colonel Mahmoud Maqableh is the new Sector West Commander in Barentu. He assumed his first assignment with the United Nations on 17 January following the fourth rotation of the Jordanian troops in UNMEE.

Col Maqableh joined the Royal Military Academy in Jordan in 1975. Following his graduation as a Second Lieutenant in 1977, he served as a Platoon Leader of the Jordanian Mechanised Battalion from 1978 to 1981. He was then appointed as a Company Commander of the Jordanian Mechanized Battalion from 1981 to 1985. During the same period he was also a Guard Officer with the Royal Jordanian Military Airline, during which, he travelled to Europe, the Middle East and South Asia. After 1985, he assumed various duties at 1 st, 2nd and 3rd staff officer levels and attended a number of advanced training courses, which enabled him to become an instructor with the Royal Military Academy in Amman. Following his successful completion of senior staff officer courses at the Royal Jordanian Leadership and Staff College, at Muatta University in Amman, he was appointed as a Battalion Commander of the 14 Jordanian Infantry Battalion during the period 1994 to 1998. In 1998 he was promoted twice; to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and to the rank of full Colonel. In 1998, he served as a Chief of the Logistics Branch of the Jordanian Mechanized Infantry Division after which he assumed the duties of Chief of the Logistics Branch with the Jordanian Army Headquarters until 2002.