Not just Govt contributing to Laos disaster relief efforts, S’porean businessmen and volunteers chipping in too

SINGAPORE – Singaporeans with businesses in Laos have begun contributing to relief efforts for thousands of people affected by a massive flood caused by the collapse of a hydropower dam, just as the second of two Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) C-130s arrived in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on Friday (July 27) bearing supplies.

Singapore's ambassador to Laos, Mr Dominic Goh, told TODAY in an interview that members of the 200-strong community have begun collecting food, water, clothing and blankets for survivors who have been displaced by the flood in the province of Attapeu.

Twenty-seven people have been confirmed dead, with 131 still missing, after the Xe-Namnoy dam collapsed on Monday in the remote southern corner of the landlocked nation, leaving villagers with little time to escape.

While he was unable to provide an exact value of the total amount of supplies put together by the Singaporeans, Mr Goh said he was aware that one group had collected at least S$20,000 to purchase them.

The individual efforts by the Singaporeans will complement the two relief packages, worth approximately S$280,000 in total, sent by the Singapore Government.

On Wednesday, the Singapore Government also announced that it would be contributing US$100,000 (S$136,000) as seed money to kickstart a public fundraising appeal by the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) that will aid in the flood relief efforts.

The first of the RSAF's cargo planes landed in Vientiane on Thursday evening with its hold filled with tents, meal rations, bottled water, medical supplies, and five rubber dinghies with outboard motors donated by the Singapore Armed Forces.

A second cargo plane delivered 11 large modular field tents on Friday morning, along with a team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

The arrival of the supplies is timely. Emergency supplies such as food, water, medicine and clothes have been requested by provincial authorities in the disaster zone.

While there are no plans to send further aid, "unless the situation worsens or the Lao side makes an additional request", Mr Goh said the Lao government has expressed its appreciation.

"The Lao Government and (its) people are very grateful for our swift response. Singapore is among the first few countries to respond and deliver aid," said Mr Goh.

Singapore's disaster relief team are also on standby to jump into action.

"We have offered to deploy our officers from the Regional Humanitarian Coordinating Centre (RHCC) to help coordinate international assistance, and SCDF DART teams for search and rescue," said Mr Goh. "The Lao side is considering our offer."

Among the 19-strong contingent from the SCDF and SAF that arrived on Friday are personnel from the Singapore Combat Engineers and Army Deployment Force, said the Ministry of Defence in a Facebook post after the team's arrival.

These SAF personnel are on hand to teach the Lao People’s Army personnel in the use of the dinghies for water rescue operations, and the set-up of five-man tents for temporary shelter.

Mr Goh revealed that the immediate priority for rescuers is to get to the villagers who have been stranded on the roofs and clinging to trees among swirling floodwaters, as well as to feed and house some 13,000 people who have been displaced from their homes.

However, rescuers have their work cut out for them as they search for the missing people over a large flooded area. Heavy monsoon rains have also hampered rescue efforts.

Meanwhile, the SRC said in a media release on Friday they have sent a three-person volunteer team to the disaster zone to conduct ground assessments.

SRC said they will be working closely with their Laotian counterparts to pack relief supplies such as "essentials, sleeping mats and blankets", which are expected to arrive in Attapeu on Saturday to be distributed to evacuation sites.

The SRC said that close to 1,000 evacuees are currently being housed at the Sanamxai Secondary School they visited, which has been converted into an evacuation centre, with more expected to arrive in the coming days.

Volunteers were told that food rations for the evacuees are running low.

"The evacuation site now has one water tank from Lao Red Cross, filtering well water at 600 litres per hour," said SRC. Two more filtration systems are expected to arrive to supply evacuees in the school and those in nearby centres.

While no major injuries have been reported, the volunteers are expecting to encounter cases of malaria and diarrhoea in the coming weeks. With the one functioning district hospital a kilometre away, doctors and medics have been put on standby at the site.