Emergency Assistance for Flood Disaster in the Republic of Colombia

March 6, 2009
Japanese

On March 6 (Fri), the Government of Japan decided to provide emergency relief goods (tents, blankets, water tanks, generators, water purifiers, portable jerry cans) equivalent to about 11 million yen to the Government of the Republic of Colombia, which sustained damage from flooding.
In the city of Tumaco (with a population of about 170,000), the Nariño Department, which is located in the border area between the southern part of Colombia and Ecuador, a catastrophic flood took place on February 16 (Mon) because of extraordinarily heavy rain, affecting more than about 31,000 people including 2 dead and 20 missing. In Tumaco, 73 of 102 villages were affected, of which 16 villages were completely washed away and vanished.
Due to this flood disaster, about 14,000 people are still forced to live in emergency shelters, and about 17,000 people are outside or in houses damaged by floods. The Government of Colombia has therefore made relief efforts of its own and also requested emergency assistance from the Government of Japan.
Japan has decided to provide this emergency assistance from a humanitarian point of view as well as in view of the friendly relations existing between Japan and the Republic of Colombia.

(END)