13.12.2013 -
The UPU is appealing to member countries to contribute to its
Emergency and Solidarity Fund so postal services cut off by Typhoon
Haiyan in the Philippines can be re-established.
Rubble of a post office in Tacloban
The Philippine Post reported suffering major damage to its
infrastructure. "Post offices are destroyed, roofs torn off, vehicles
out of service. We are asking for the UPU’s financial support in
rebuilding our postal infrastructure and re-establishing our postal
services,” says Mama S. Lalanto, PhlPost’s assistant postmaster general
for operations.
The postal operator is still compiling an inventory of damage in
South Luzon and Central, Eastern and Western Visayas, home to 192 postal
facilities. Initial estimates place the property damage at 500,000 USD.
Once the inventory is complete, the UPU will help PhilPost put in
place an emergency plan to re-establish postal activities.“With the
funds collected, the UPU plans to concentrate its efforts on rebuilding
the main post office in Tacloban, a city that was hit very hard and was,
before the disaster, the transportation hub in the region,” says Abdel
Ilah Bousseta, the UPU's director of development cooperation. “Donations
will be used to rebuild the post office, and also to buy postal
vehicles.”
Postal solidarity
Some Posts have already stepped up. Three days after the typhoon,
Deutsche Post DHL’s emergency response team was on the ground to provide
logistical support at the Mactan Cebu Airport. The team set up a depot
to facilitate the distribution of goods and supplies to victims.
The United States Postal Service has sent four satellite phones so
postal employees in devastated areas can communicate with the
authorities in Manila, according to Patrick Mendonca, chair of the UPU
group on disaster risk management.
A team of postal workers from Manila has travelled to the areas of
Iloilo, Capiz, Antique and Aklan with basic supplies for the 600 postal
workers in the regions affected.
According to the latest official figures, the death toll from Typhoon
Haiyan has reached 5,632. Damage to crops and infrastructures is
estimated at nearly 700 million USD.
Source : http://news.upu.int
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