25 August 2006

Oxfam Delivering 1.5 Million Litres Of Drinking Water A Day In Lebanon Relief Effort

Oxfam is tankering 1.5 million litres of vital fresh drinking water every day to war ravaged Lebanon – enough to provide the basic daily needs of 50,000 people. The UN has identified the supply of clean water as one of the major aid priorities.

Delivering water to affected villages has been a race against time as water pipes, generators, pumps and electricity supplies have been destroyed or severely damaged in the conflict.

Simon Springett, Country Programme Manager, said: "In some of the villages, 80 percent of homes have been destroyed along with vital water systems of pipelines and large water storage reservoirs.

"Access to clean drinking water and water for personal hygiene is vital to keeping people healthy in the wake of such a humanitarian disaster. We've geared up our tankering to bring immediate relief to families but we're also working to repair water systems to enable villages to supply their own water again. "

Oxfam, working with contractors and partners, is now supplying 1.2 million litres a day to seven villages in south Lebanon and 360,000 litres a day to the heavily bombed southern suburbs of Beirut.

Damage caused by the bombing has cut electricity to many villages and they now rely on emergency generators. Oxfam is providing a large generator to the southern town of Sifra which will pump enough water to supply the 12,000 local residents. Oxfam will also be assisting five southern towns to repair the pumping capacity of their main water supply wells. Where generators are working, Oxfam is supplying 300 litres of fuel a day.

Oxfam is also supplying:
· 1,800 hygiene kits
· 4,800 buckets for water storage
· 350 kits for rubbish clearance
· 350 toilet cleaning kits
· 2.5km of water piping
· 440 x 1,000 litre water tanks
· 300 litres a day of fuel in five towns to support water pumping · 8 machines for spraying insecticides

Oxfam has launched an appeal for its emergency work in the Middle East. People can donate money by visiting www.oxfam.org.nz or calling 0900 600 20 to leave an automatic $20 donation.

ENDS

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