Singapore Red Cross commits another $550,000 worth of supplies for Myanmar quake aid

SINGAPORE – The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has committed an additional tranche of humanitarian supplies worth $550,000 to help communities affected by the recent earthquake in Myanmar.

The supplies include hygiene kits for families, women’s hygiene kits, plastic mats, mosquito nets and tarpaulins, as well as jerrycans for the collection, distribution and safe storage of clean water. They will be procured by SRC’s counterparts in Myanmar.

The supplies are expected to support about 8,000 households across the affected regions of Myanmar, SRC said on April 10.

It has also dispatched nearly 300 water filters to regions such as Mandalay and Sagaing – the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude quake – to improve access to clean and safe drinking water, and nearly 900 solar-powered lights to support communities without power.

The contributions are expected to benefit about 80,000 people affected by the quake.

SRC has raised more than $2.7 million for the cause through public fund raising, and has disbursed almost $700,000 worth of humanitarian aid so far.

The group has sent a three-person team – consisting of two staff and a volunteer – to Yangon to assess the evolving humanitarian situation in Myanmar and to coordinate further relief efforts.

It also cooperated with its counterpart in the country, the Myanmar Red Cross (MRC), to deploy MRC volunteers and two ambulances to support the transfer of patients between the Singapore Emergency Medical Team field hospital and the Mandalay General Hospital.

SRC has been coordinating closely with the Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre, the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management and MRC to consolidate humanitarian aid from Singapore.

They are working together with other non-governmental organisations, such as Mercy Relief and Relief Singapore, to deliver the supplies to Myanmar.

Since the quake on March 28, there have been two shipments of supplies, SRC said.

The latest tranche of aid comes after an initial deployment worth $150,000, which included the distribution of essential supplies, such as water, blankets and tarpaulins, to address the immediate needs of the people affected by the quake.

The deadly quake was one of the strongest to hit Myanmar in a century.

More than 3,600 people were killed, with 5,017 injured and another 148 missing. Nearly 49,000 houses and more than 2,100 government buildings were also destroyed.