The Royal Air Force has been providing air support to the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) to assist the ongoing flood relief effort in Pakistan.
According to a press release by DFID, a Royal Air Force C130 Hercules aircraft flew into Islamabad on Wednesday carrying 11 metric tonnes of plastic sheeting for the United Nations, to provide emergency shelter for thousands of people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. The sheeting can be easily cut to the required size for either constructing new shelters, or for temporary repairs to damaged houses.
Earlier on Saturday August 14, a Royal Air Force C17, the RAF's largest transport aircraft, flew in around 45 metric tonnes of aid. This included tents, food and medical supplies for the UN's World Health Organisation and World Food Programme, as well as the charities Islamic Relief and Qatar Charity.
The Head of the Department for International Developments Pakistan office, George Turkington ,said: "It's great that the Department for International Development, RAF, and the UN are working together to help people in Pakistan whose homes and lives have been washed away by the floods."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) country director Wolfgang Herbinger said: "It's vital that we are able to get this UN co-ordinated food, shelter and medical support to where it's most needed as quickly as possible. "The Department for International Development was able to work with the RAF to make this flight happen."
Officer Commanding 99 Squadron, Wing Commander Simon Edwards said: "I am pleased that the 99 Sqn has been able to help DFID in this important task and that we are able to use the C17s world-class lift capability in support of their vital humanitarian mission to Pakistan." DFID also chartered a Boeing 747 to bring in around 90 metric tonnes of additional aid on August 15. This included nearly 43,000 blankets, more than 12,500 buckets, and more than 1.7 million water purification tablets, which is enough to provide clean water to nearly one million people for a month.
This follows aid previously provided from the UK which will help around one and a half million people affected by the floods to access safe drinking water, toilets, emergency shelter, health care, sanitation, high energy food supplements, and other essentials.
The British Government has now allocated 31.3 million pounds for the relief and recovery effort. In addition it is bringing forward a 10 million pounds project to provide new bridges to replace some of those washed away by the floods. Andrew Mitchell, British Development Secretary, on Saturday announced that the UK intends to more than double its aid contribution, making available an additional 33 million pounds.
Comments
Comments are closed.