MRC appeals to Malaysians to help Nepal’s quake victims

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KUCHING: The Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) is appealing to the public and corporate sector for donations to help the earthquake victims in Nepal.

‘Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund’ is an international emergency appeal that is seeking CHF (Swiss Franc) 33,481,398 for now to enable the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) to support the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) to deliver aid, said NRCS through a press statement yesterday.

“The assistance and support will be delivered to 75,000 people (from 15,000 households) over 18 months. The focus will be on emergency health and care, shelter and settlements (including basic household items), livelihoods, restoring family links (RFL), safe and dignified burials, National Society institutional preparedness and capacity development, community preparedness and risk reduction.

“The overall budget includes a provision for the deployment of emergency response units (ERUs) and a shelter cluster coordination team. The planned response reflects the current situation and information available at this point of the evolving operation, and it will be adjusted based on further developments and more detailed assessments.”

The earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, struck an area between Kathmandu and Pokhara on Saturday. Its epicentre is 80 km northwest of Kathmandu, with hundreds of aftershocks registered.

Preliminary reports indicated more than 2,500 deaths, with at least 634 in Kathmandu Valley. The death toll is rising quickly and the number of casualties is expected to increase significantly.

More than 5,000 houses have collapsed, there are major damage to basic infrastructure, and many historical landmarks, such as the Unesco World Heritage temples at Basantapur Durbar Square, have gone under.

NRCS have done initial assessments in the affected districts. The assessments indicated urgent needs in non-food relief and cash, health and care, psychological support, water, sanitation, shelter, hygiene promotion, restoring family link and safe and dignified dead body management. There will be massive disaster relief interventions in all these sectors.

All donations, acknowledged with MRC official receipts, can be channelled to ‘Malaysian Red Crescent Society’.

Cheques, money orders or postal orders made out in the said name are to be forwarded to Malaysian Red Crescent, Jalan P Ramlee, 93400 Kuching.

Donations can also be credited into Malaysian Red Crescent MayBank Bhd account number 511195113769.

The public are advised to forward the bank-in slip to MRC Sarawak together with their name and mailing address for issuance of receipts.

For further inquiries, call MRC Sarawak at 082-428228, fax 082-246417 or through email at [email protected]