Donations to the National Disaster Relief Fund

The National Disaster Relief Fund today received substantial donations totalling SR 1.7million that will go towards giving financial assistance to those affected by the tropical storm Felleng. The donors who presented their donations to the National Disaster Relief Fund were H.E. Mr. Thanglura Darlong, High Commissioner of India to Seychelles, The Habib Bank Limited and Seychelles Savings Bank. The cheques were received by the chairman of the National Disaster Relief Fund, Mrs. Lekha Nair, who expressed thanks on behalf of the Fund saying that ‘the response from all the donors has been great so far and indeed overwhelming.’ “I thank all the donors for the generous gestures. These donations bring to our fund a total of SR38 Million, which is a gratifying amount to get in one month. So far we have paid out around SR1.7 Million to the farmers and about SR137,000 to Red Cross society. A meeting was held with the farmers earlier this week and they will be receiving payments from the NDRF of half of the costs approved by the Board, as per their request, throughout this week, in addition to the goods that they can procure from the Agriculture Requisite Stores that NDRF has paid for,” said Mrs. Nair. NDRF agreed to pay 20% of cost of damages incurred by farmers , and 40% of cost of damages to those farmers who were hit very badly by the rains. This week the Board of NDRF are looking at the requests of the individuals mostly affected in the three districts, that have come from the Taskforce Committee. These families have already been assisted in some way or the other, including some financial assistance from the Agency for Social Protection. The Taskforce Committee feels that they could be helped a little bit more in terms of money as the amount they have received in many cases does not cover most of their cost of damages. The Board will also be looking at clearing the expenses incurred for all the emergency services that were availed of at the time of the disaster.

H.E. Mr. Thanglura Darlong, High Commissioner of India to Seychelles donated 100,000.00 US Dollars on behalf of the Government of India. The donation represents the strong ties that exist between India and Seychelles as well as a way to express their solidarity to the people suffering from the disaster. Mrs Nair said that the Fund has been receiving donations not only from the people in the country but also from friends of Seychelles and India has always been a very good friend of Seychelles. She conveyed the NDRF’s appreciation and thanks to the High Commissioner for the donation of $100,000 which is SR 1.2m.

The Habib Bank Limited presented a cheque of SR250, 000. The Country Manager, Mr. Bilal Ahmed Qureshi said that Habib Bank has been serving the people of Seychelles at all levels for many years, supporting the economy and the society. He said this small gesture towards the people of Seychelles at a time of disaster is the least they can do as their way of supporting those affected. Seychelles Savings Bank also donated a sum of SR250, 000. The bank’s Managing Director, Mr. Michael Benstrong said that it is ‘a great pleasure and honour to make this contribution to the NDRF,’ which he believes will help in the provision of assistance to those affected. As Seychelles Savings Bank has one of their branches in the disaster zone at Anse Aux Pins, Mr Benstrong said that the bank fully understood the impact of the disaster that they also felt and had already done its best to assist families in that district.