MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Billson
The Australian Government will assist victims of Typhoon Damrey, which ravaged Vietnam's northern provinces last month, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson, announced today at a disaster mitigation program in Vietnam.
'More than 600,000 people throughout 11 provinces have been affected by the most powerful storm to hit northern Vietnam since 1996 and Australia's contribution will help people in need recover from the devastation,' Mr Billson.
'Following a request from the Vietnamese Government for rehabilitation support, Australia responded with assistance to help more than 4,000 of the worst affected households gain access to food, clean drinking water and better sanitation.
'There are serious health risks to people in these densely populated fishing villages and Australia will contribute $136,000 to CARE International's on the ground assistance,' Mr Billson said.
'Homes, dykes, roads and bridges were destroyed and vast areas of land have been inundated with sea water, devastating rice crops and contaminating wells and water supplies,' Mr Billson said.
'Vietnam is one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world and its central provinces, including Quang Ngai, are extremely vulnerable to floods, storms and drought, as well as being the poorest in the country.
'Australia, through AusAID, the Australian Government's overseas aid agency, has contributed more than $12 million since 2003 to the Quang Ngai Disaster Mitigation Project to tackle the vulnerability of locals to disasters, particularly floods and storms.
'Frequent disasters significantly hinder the ability of communities to realise their economic and social potential and this project aims to better prepare communities for the impact on basic services such as housing, electricity and schooling,' Mr Billson said.
'Australian funds have also trained around 3000 people in life saving first aid, resuscitation, swimming and boat handling to better prepare them for flooding as the wet season approaches.'
Australia's total overseas development assistance to Vietnam is estimated at $77.3 million for 2005-2006, which includes efforts to tackle rural poverty, disaster mitigation and support for critical economic development.
Media inquiries:
Shane Fairlie (with Mr Billson in Vietnam) 0408 680 442
AusAID Public Affairs (Vietnam) 0408 485 560 (Canberra) 0417 680 590
Please note Vietnam is three hours' behind AEST.