Materia Medica Malaysiana

MRCS To Help Sri Lanka's Tsunami Victims In Long Term

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) is committed to assist in the long-term rehabilitation of victims of the Dec 26 tsunami in Sri Lanka.
"I am confident we will be playing a role," said MRCS board member and chairman of its Media Committee, Datuk Ahmad Abdul Talib, who returned yesterday after leading a five-day fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka.
"Our trip was to find out how best we can fit into the Sri Lankan government's plans to help the tsunami-affected areas," he told Bernama.
The mission's report would be submitted to the MRCS executive committee and the process would be set in motion, he said, noting that MRCS had already responded with financial aid soon after the tsunami hit Sri Lanka's shores.
He said that the team was told by the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLCS) in Colombo that the emergency requirements had "more or less" been met.
At displaced centres in Galle and Trincomalee, the mission was told there was an urgent need for tents in the short term, Ahmad said.
"In the long-term, there is a need for permanent housing, which the people can afford," he said.