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| Thursday, 13 January 2005 |
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by Uditha Kumarasinghe The special Disaster Resource Network (DRN) set up at the Bandaranaike International Airport has so far received 8659 tons of relief supplies in the aftermath of the Tsunami devastation dispatched by over 57 countries which rushed to the aid of Sri Lanka in its hour of need and as an expression of their unstinted support towards the Government's attempts to assist the thousands of stricken victims of the giant tidal waves. According to sources the spontaneous gesture on the part of these nations, some of them themselves victims of the tsunami went to demonstrate the extent of the goodwill and solidarity of the world community to the appeal made by the Sri Lankan Government for assistance in the gigantic humanitarian relief task. Chris Weeks, Director of the Disaster Resource Network (DRN) told the Daily News that they have already received more than 200 aircraft loads of essential food items, medicines and other requirement to provide immediate relief measures to tsunami victims. Most of these assistance include foods, medicines, bottled water, blankets, water systems, water cans, mattresses, equipment, kitchen utensils and dry rations, he said. Weeks who is a senior official attached to courier giant DHL, heads the Airport Emergency Team set up at the BIA performing a humanitarian service at the DRN set up at the BIA cargo terminal. He said that he arrived in Sri Lanka on December 29." We got here in the nick of time", he said. He said DHL and several other companies from around the world such as TNT, ARAMEX, Dnata and Emirates Airline joined forces to form the DRN as a key network to distribute assistance during the present crisis, help with logistics, transportation and communications. In Sri Lanka, the Airport Emergency Team coordinates and processes tons of incoming supplies. Therefore this collaboration of private companies is helping the Government to cope with the situation and ensure the tons of relief move in and out of the main airport smoothly. Weeks said a team of 12 officials are busy round the clock to supervise the cargo operations at the DRN. They are from Norway, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Germany, India and Sri Lanka. This team of 12 are assisted by local workers numbering over 50 who move, organise and process the incoming supplies and send it out to the tsunami affected areas aboard military and civilian aircraft. The system utilizes the business practices of its member companies and has brought in skilled workmen such as forklift operators. It is safer and more efficient than disaster relief operations of the past, Weeks said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marines conducting logistics and airport control operations at the airport, from the Combined Logistics Control Centre, is assisting the Airport Emergency Team with hauling, among other tasks, as they wait for their full-scale relief operations to begin. "When the tsunami devastation occurred, we realised that there is a job for us and we came direct to Sri Lanka. Weeks said this was his first mission abroad to assist with a disaster of such magnitude. Our key objective is to assist the Government to keep the airport open. He said that he is satisfied with the cargo operations at the DRN." |
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