(Hong Kong‧19 April 2014) One year after the powerful earthquake struck Ya’an Prefecture of Sichuan Province, the Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) has completed all emergency relief activities, and is dedicating its support to the reconstruction of 3,301 village houses in three counties in Ya’an Prefecture, of which, 10% have been completed.
In Shimian County, Yingjing County and Tianquan County of Ya’an Prefecture, the HKRC offers financial support of RMB 20,000 for each of the 3,301 earthquake affected families to rebuild their houses. To ensure the quality of the construction work, the HKRC programme staff and engineers, who are based in Chengdu, provide technical trainings to villagers on construction techniques, and conduct regular inspection trips to review the quality of construction work and key construction materials. As of March 2014, the construction of 314 houses has been completed and passed the final quality inspection, while the construction of 2,585 houses has commenced. Construction of all the 3,301 houses is scheduled to be completed by 2015. Before the Lunar New Year in 2014, more than 100 families have already moved into their new homes.
In the morning of 20 April 2013, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck Lushan County of Ya’an Prefecture. In the same afternoon, the HKRC staff arrived at the worst-hit area to conduct needs assessment. Since then they have participated throughout the emergency relief phase, including procurement and distribution of relief materials, provision of medical relief service as well as prosthetic, orthotic and rehabilitation services. In total, 25 HKRC volunteers and staff members have been deployed to Ya’an to support the emergency operation. All emergency relief activities were completed in May 2013. The HKRC has provided daily necessities to 3,337 affected households, medical relief service to 3,000 person-times, and prosthetic, orthotic and rehabilitation service to 103 people.
Thanks for the generous support from the Hong Kong public, the HKRC has received over HK$16.6 million in donation (including bank interests). All received donations will be used to support emergency relief, reconstruction, recovery, and disaster preparedness programmes in Ya’an Prefecture, after deducting no more than 5% for administrative support cost.
Media Enquiries:
HKRC Corporate Communications Manager Ms Denise Wong 2507-7111/ 9842-6002
HKRC Head of International and Relief Service Ms Betty Lau 2507-7033/ 6765-9908