Donations found discarded in abandoned warehouse

TEENS came across a stash of items supposedly destined for the Sahrawi refugee camps in 2008 and 2009 abandoned in a warehouse in Marratxi Industrial Park. Dozens of boxes lay scattered on the floor as though they had been looted.

Hundreds of brand name clothes, bags, shoes, towels, bedding, among others, were scattered around the warehouse floor, reported Spanish daily Diario de Mallorca.

Items with the Social Services logo on them were in many of the boxes.

Sports equipment from the Consell de Mallorca and hospital supplies and equipment from Son Dureta that were donated for humanitarian purposes apparently never reached its destination.

Handwritten labels on some of the boxes of medical equipment leaves no doubt; in addition to its contents is the year in which the objects were packed were the words NGO.

The Association of Friends of the Sahrawi People said that they were not able to deliver all the donated items due to lack of resources.

“We give priority to medical equipment and items to develop the medical projects we have been working on for more than 20-years,” said Josep Bibi from the association.

Since they cannot afford security guards, vandals entered the warehouse, causing the mess it was found in, which has since been tidied up.

When asked why the ‘abandoned’ items were not donated to other charities, they replied that they “cannot donate dirty material that has been dragged along the ground and that some of the drugs had expired or were inadequate for the third world.”

By Nicole Hallett