With a view to ameliorating the relief efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka during the time of the floods that affected Sri Lanka in May 2017, the Sri Lankan expatriate community based in Dubai and the Northern Emirates along with other well wishers came into the forefront of assistance and donated AED 58,150 (Approximately 2,500,000 Sri Lankan Rupees) in cash in addition to sending four (04) consignments of essential items to Sri Lanka in the immediate aftermath. This initiative was mooted after a meeting convened in the Consulate General of Sri Lanka on 1st June 2017 with the presence of the representatives of the Sri Lankan Associations with regard to streamlining the donations routed to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the floods, in line with the requirements of the Government.
In this context, over 30 Sri Lankan formal and informal Associations based in Dubai and the Northern Emirates came in the forefront to render their support to the distressed Sri Lankan citizens, under the guidance of the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. The Associations have divided the workload during the meeting convened in the Consulate to avoid duplication of collecting essential items and to determine the most needed items at the time of disaster.
After the fruitful efforts, the Sri Lankan community was able to deliver four consignments including a consignment of bedsheets and bath towels, a consignment of 866 nos of tarpaulin sheets weighing 2838 kilograms each worth of AED 30 at the total cost of AED 26,000 (Approximately 1,118,000 Sri Lankan Rupees) and a consignment of 95 nos of tents each worth AED 500 at the total cost of AED 45,000 (Approximately 1,935,000 Sri Lankan Rupees) and a consignment of Sanitary pads, baby diapers and canned fish, which were much needed at the time of disaster and insufficient in the local market.
In addition, Marks and Spencer/ Al Futtaim- Dubai generously offered over 9,000 pieces of clothes weighing over 4,300 kg and worth of AED 517,000 (Approximately 22,231,000 Sri Lankan Rupees- only the cost not the market value) to be used by the flood victims which was immediately dispatched to Sri Lanka by air cargo.
The SriLankan, Emirates and Flydubai Airlines and their management based in Dubai rendered a commendable assistance to the Consulate General to air cargo the collected items from the Sri Lankan Community to the Ministry of Disaster Management at the earliest free of charge and the Middle East based Sri Lankan company Frico International LLC assisted in packing and freight forwarding all the items on Free of Charge basis to Sri Lanka.
The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Dubai & the Northern Emirates wishes to convey its appreciation and gratitude to all Sri Lankan Associations, individual donors, well wishers based in Dubai and the Northern Emirates for gathering together as one nation to help the fellow Sri Lankan citizens at the hour of need.
Consulate General of Sri Lanka
Dubai
UAE
13th July 2017
