The people of Malta and Gozo yesterday continued to show their generosity towards the people of Sri Lanka when they donated more water and tinned fish to the people affected by the tsunami which hit southeast Asia on Boxing Day.
Civil Protection Department director Peter Cordina said there had been a constant flow of
people bringing packs of bottled water and tinned food, mainly fish such as tuna and salmon, as had been requested by the Sri Lankan government.
These containers will be shipped at the end of this week, Mr Cordina said. Asked if enough food and water had now been
collected, Mr Cordina said members of the CPD will continue
collecting provisions until the containers available are full to the brim. He appealed to people not to continue donating blankets and similar items because these are no longer needed.
The 46 20-foot containers laden with provisions left Malta on Saturday and started their two-and-a-half week journey to Colombo. They are being shipped free of charge by shipping agents John Ripard & Sons Ltd. The containers are expected to be first shipped to Egypt where they will be loaded onto another ship and taken on to Sri Lanka.
The Maltese people have donated half-a-million litres of water weighing 480 tonnes, 200 tonnes of clothes and blankets, 100 tonnes of food, 40 tonnes of juices, 10 tonnes of medicines and hundreds of tents.
Meanwhile, the Air Malta plane, full to the brim with pharmaceutical products and much-needed medicinal supplies, arrived in Sri Lanka’s capital and the entire cargo was unloaded in just under two hours.
Apart from provisions, the plane carried the Maltese team comprised of nurse David Grech, doctors David Paul Galea, Vanessa Saliba and Rachel Attard from SOS Malta and John Portelli, Marvic Attard and Etienne Micallef from the Malta Red Cross. The team plans to set up a fully-equipped medical camp in Sri Lanka.
Reports said that one million Paracetamol tablets, nearly 100 boxes of antibiotics and more than 120,000 infusion kits had been packed in boxes and are now being used by the medical team in Sri Lanka.
Yesterday the SOS Malta team visited two camps on the south-west coast of Sri Lanka after driving for over two hours from Colombo. They contacted the parish priest and the local authorities and have made a request to set up an operational base in the district. If this is agreed, the team will drive down from Colombo with all the medical supplies and start their work alongside the local medical
officers on the ground.
This morning, SOS head of mission David Grech is expected to attend a meeting at the Centre for National Operations at the Sri Lanka Foundation in Colombo where he will meet other relief agencies and be briefed on the situation in the various districts.
Contributions for the success of SOS Malta’s operations in Sri Lanka should be sent to SOS Malta, Dar L-Emigrant, Castille Plate, Valletta or deposited in bank accounts:
APS 20000245111
BOV 40013974950
HSBC 006070932050