Premier visits flood-affected people in Dire Dawa

(09/08/06)

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi yesterday visited those areas affected by the flood that occurred in Dire Dawa last week. The Prime Minister commended the efforts of the town’s people in coping with the effects of the crisis and pledged the support of the government in providing immediate food assistance and shelter for those residents who had lost their homes.

Prime Minister Meles also met with residents displaced by the flood who are now in temporary shelter in the Afetisa Primary and Secondary school.

The Director General of the Federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (DPPA), Simon Mechale, said that work was already underway to provide necessary relief materials, such as food aid, clothing, household utensils and plastic sheets, to the affected people. According to the DPPA, more than 200 people are thought to have lost their lives in the flash flood which resulted from a heavy downpour in the early hours of Saturday 5^th August.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has donated 200,000 birr to the Dire Dawa Transitional Administration to assist victims, while the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has donated 5,000 birr. A 150,000 birr donation was also made by Ethiopian athlete Haile Gebrsellassie, and 100,000 birr by the Harari State Administration.