Wednesday, 11 August 2010
11 Aug 2010 As Singaporeans celebrated 45 years of independence, stability and peace last Monday, Mercy Relief (MR) plied the muddy and slippery grounds of the districts in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The Singapore-born humanitarian NGO embraced the Five Stars and Crescent in its own way on relief banners and stickers, albeit without the accompaniment of Majulah Singapura, but with the rustles of food packages and words of comfort to the flood victims there.
Heavy rains poured on most days since the MR team got into the KP province the Wednesday before, making access to affected areas extremely challenging. USD 40,000 worth of tents, food and drinking water were procured locally and distributed at the IDP camps in Charsada and Nowshera. In tandem, USD5,000 worth of pediatric medicines was delivered to the Kuwait Hospital, supported by MRs long-time partner, the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA).
Pakistani authorities say 14 million people are facing direct or indirect harm, while the United Nations has warned that children are among the most vulnerable victims, with diarrhoea the biggest health threat and measles a concern.
With food and drinking water being the prevailing and dire priorities on the ground, 5 units of ultra-filtration water systems worth USD 15,000 arrived in Peshawar from Singapore last Sunday. The cargo was flown complimentary by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with kind assistance from the Pakistan High Commission in Singapore. MR is working with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) to deploy the 800-litre/hour treatment systems designed by Singapore water company, Glowtec.
