The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Lebanon: French companies mobilize alongside the State for emergency aid

2020-08-11T13:10:52.631Z


Public and private aid has recently come from France.Very active since the explosion that ravaged Beirut last week, the public and private sectors are mobilizing in all directions in France to deliver emergency aid to Lebanon, particularly medical, food and for reconstruction. Read also: Lebanon: is a “French mandate” legally possible, as a petition demands? The establishment of an air and sea bridge should make it possible to send initially more ...


Very active since the explosion that ravaged Beirut last week, the public and private sectors are mobilizing in all directions in France to deliver emergency aid to Lebanon, particularly medical, food and for reconstruction.

Read also: Lebanon: is a “French mandate” legally possible, as a petition demands?

The establishment of an air and sea bridge should make it possible to send initially more than 18 tonnes of medical aid and nearly 700 tonnes of food aid to the Lebanese capital, according to the Quai d'Orsay.

Following the international conference in support of Lebanon co-sponsored on Sunday by Paris and the UN, here are some of the main public and private aid from France:

Medical aid

- Three mobile health posts and 16 tonnes of medicines to treat more than 1,000 wounded were delivered by military planes. The aid was given to four hospital structures on the front line in the care of the wounded as well as to the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Red Cross.

- Nearly four tonnes of medical products (half of the medicines and vaccines transmitted via the Sanofi Espoir foundation) were sent with the support of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Quai d'Orsay, UNICEF and the Tulipe association, which unites donations from healthcare companies. Sanofi said in a statement that the NGO Première Urgence Internationale, which has long been present in Lebanon, will distribute some of its kits.

- France will also participate in the reconstruction of hospital structures damaged by the explosion (one million euros for the Rafiq Hariri hospital, one million euros for primary health centers and at least ten million euros for the Lebanese Red Cross).

Food aid

- The Carrefour group and its Foundation also sent by plane 40 tonnes of non-perishable food (flour, pasta, rice, canned food, etc.), the equivalent of 52 pallets. The private groups Nutriset (16 tonnes of food supplements), Elle & Vire (10 tonnes of dairy products) are also among the contributors.

- La Meunerie française announced that around 20 millers had sent 500 tonnes of flour, including 75 for the cooperative group Vivescia. Half of this stock left Toulon on Sunday aboard the Le Tonnerre helicopter carrier, the rest must leave France on Tuesday.

- On Twitter, a cereal farmer in the Aisne ready to donate "a ton of wheat" to Lebanon encourages other farmers to join the process and calls on the Minister of Agriculture as well as personalities such as the original journalist Lebanese Léa Salamé for setting up the operation.

- Some 90,000 food rations have also been delivered.

- The Minister of Agriculture is studying the longer-term shipment of 20,000 tonnes of wheat (stored in Nantes) and 20,000 tonnes of flour (stored in Rouen).

Reconstruction

The needs are enormous, with 200,000 to 300,000 homes affected, and the port to be rebuilt.

- The Saint-Gobain group said on Tuesday that the cargo of nine semi-trailers and a 19-tonne truck, made up of secondary construction materials, including plasterboard, glass wool and slabs ceiling, had embarked Saturday in Toulon aboard the helicopter carrier.

- A cargo ship chartered by the Armies must transport reconstruction materials in the coming days. The Armies will also dispatch 30 vehicles and engineer resources.

- A CMA-CGM ship will be diverted “very soon” from its usual service to transport medical equipment and essential goods from Marseille to Beirut provided by NGO partners in the foundation of the maritime carrier.

- The French Development Agency (AFD) will help rehabilitate public schools (76 affected in total) for two million euros.

- An independent committee will define specifications for the reconstruction of Beirut's heritage with Lebanese, French and international experts.

Support for intervention teams

- Search and clearance: 55 civil security soldiers are on site, as well as 15 tonnes of intervention equipment.

- Support for investigations: 50 police officers and gendarmes are working to identify the causes of the explosion and the victims, three divers from the technical and scientific police are also mobilized, as are four refrigerated modules for the storage of bodies.

Five experts in NRBC risks (Nuclear, Radiological, Biological, Chemical) as well as satellite imagery for the needs of the investigation were also provided.

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2020-08-11

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.