Disaster management: State-of-the-art warehouse to store relief goods

Pakistan Red Crescent says there is dire need for such storage facilities

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Red Crescent (PRC) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chairperson Lieutenant General (retd) Mohammed Hamid Khan inaugurated a state-of-the-art warehouse at Bab-e-Qadeem in the city to store goods in case of a disaster.

It has a storage capacity of roughly 3,000 non-food packages, according to a handout.

During the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, the chairman was told the warehouse was constructed in collaboration with the German Red Cross (GRC) and stretches over an area of six kanals. The modern construction has an elevated structure and firefighting equipment. Mohammed Hamid was also told the structure was built based on earthquake safety guidelines at a cost of Rs12.7 million.

In his speech, the chairperson said there was always a need for a proper warehouse to store goods that enable a timely response to any disaster.

He also discussed the quick response of the PRC to the earthquake on October 26, 2015 and said it was only possible because of the organisation’s small warehouses in the most vulnerable districts. “I am very pleased to learn that PRC has always chosen the furthest and hardest [to reach] districts for humanitarian assistance.”

Earlier, GRC Head of Office Hannelore Schnelzer said she was impressed with the construction of the warehouse. She was proud of the collaboration between the two entities to reach vulnerable people in the province. Schnelzer emphasised a proper warehouse was necessary to combat disasters.

PRC managing committee member Nawaz Khan donated Rs100,000 to his organisation for its outstanding response to the recent earthquake.

GRC Construction delegate Dorothy Schmitt, International Committee of the Red Cross sub-delegation head Mirjam Lea Muller, members of the managing committee as well as officials and volunteers of the PRC were also present.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2016.