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02nd
March 2010
Digicel
donates tents to shelter 100,000+ Haitians
Telecommunications
operator encourages others to follow suit as
urgent action needed to shelter homeless Haitians
before rainy season begins
Digicel today announced details of its plans
to purchase and distribute 19,000 six-man tents
– valued at US$3 million – to provide
shelter to more than 100,000 Haitians who are
living in makeshift campsites following the
January 12th earthquake which devastated Port-au-Prince
and its surrounding areas.
The tents – which are designed for extended
living in wilderness conditions – have
a 10x10 foot coated polyethylene ‘bathtub’
floor which is separate from the tent walls
and gives protection from groundwater. The tents
– purchased from a manufacturer in the
US – are being shipped to Port-au-Prince
from Bangladesh on 14x40 foot containers and
are scheduled to arrive in Port-au-Prince at
the end of March.
Working with its existing distribution channels
and the Digicel Foundation, Digicel will distribute
the 19,000 tents to Haitians who are living
on the streets with no shelter.
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Digicel Group
CEO, Colm Delves, commented: “With an
estimated one million people living in makeshift
dwellings in Port-au-Prince, the Government
of Haiti and NGOs providing relief efforts
in the country are increasingly concerned
that many more lives will be lost if people
are not provided with sheltered accommodation
to protect them from the imminent arrival
of rainy season. Not only do people need proper
shelter where they can stay safe and dry,
but it will also help stop the spread of disease
through the makeshift camps that have been
set up across the city.
“However, while the tents we are donating
will go some way towards providing sheltered
accommodation, we need more organizations
from across the world to step in and provide
this urgent support.”
As the single largest investor in Haiti, Digicel
has invested US$370 million since its launch
in 2006. In total, Digicel has donated over
US$20 million to support the relief efforts
in Haiti, which includes a US$5 million direct
donation to NGOs, US$5 free credit to each
of its two million customers – totaling
US$10 million, funds raised from a text and
voice donation line for customers across its
32 markets, as well various initiatives that
individual markets have hosted such as radiothons
and concerts.
Discuss
Story
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