Aid workers poured into Nepal after the April 25 earthquake struck and left thousands dead and countless more left in a dire situation.
Now, Information Minister Minendra Rijal said that major work in and around the Kathmandu has already been completed, and aid workers in the capital should head home.
Minister Rijal did note, however, that work remains to be done in rural areas, and foreign aid workers could work with local police and army rescuers in such areas to continue to conduct rescue and recovery operations.
The 4,050 aid workers in Nepal hail from 34 different countries.
Nepal short on resources and capabilities
Before the earthquake Nepal suffered from a shortage of trained doctors, and was home to one of the world’s most inadequate infrastructures.
Now, Nepal’s already sub-par infrastructure has been heavily damaged, while the World Health Organization is warning that many of hospitals and other medical facilities in the worst hit areas have been effectively destroyed.
The United Nations estimates at least 600,000 homes have been damaged, and 8 million of Nepal’s 28 million people have been affected.
Conditions have gotten so bad that CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta, who is reporting on conditions in Nepal and is also a trained doctor, was forced to conduct brain surgery on an eight-year-old. Dr. Gupta described conditions in Nepal as the worst he has ever seen.
Nepalese government coming under fire
Earlier this week the Nepalese government faced criticism for using “peace time” customs procedures to evaluate foreign aid shipments. As a result, shipments have been held up in customs, even as the country’s population has been facing severe shortages of food, water, medicine, and other vital goods.
International authorities urged the Nepalese government to speed up the processing of aid, though the government has complained that much of the aid, such as shipments of mayonnaise, is useless.
Meanwhile, locals in some towns claim that government officials have essentially abandoned their posts, forcing citizens to fend for themselves. Discontent appears to be growing among many Nepalese.
