THE UNITED Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF), through its Kingston office, has joined the Hurricane Ivan relief effort by donating supplies valued at over J$700,000.
Bertrand Bainvel, the UNICEF representative in Jamaica, told The Gleaner that supplies worth US$100,000 arrived by ship from Venezuela on the weekend. A first batch, which carried a price tag of US$23,000, arrived by plane last Thursday evening at the Norman Manley International Airport. Mr. Bainvel said the supplies range from hygienic products to educational kits and recreational packages. They will be distributed mainly on the south coast which was battered by Ivan; the hurricane's Category 4 gusts destroyed houses and devastated farms throughout the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.
CONCERNED
"We are really concerned about the access to drinking water. As we went through communities you could see children drinking polluted water," said Mr. Bainvel, who toured parts of Manchester and St. Elizabeth with a UNICEF team last week. "We have heard about cases of gastroenteritis here (earlier this year) and we must make sure this doesn't happen again."
He said purification tablets and dehydration salts will be distributed in areas where water remains tainted, through the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the Child Development Agency and the Rural Family Support Organisation which is based in Clarendon. The purification tablet is placed in polluted water and purifies corrupted liquid in half-hour. Also included in the UNICEF package are educational aids such as the school-in-a-box, a self-help kit, as well as notebooks, pencils, schoolbags and toys.
