Manila: The Philippines has rolled out a mechanised packaging facility that can speed up packaging of relief goods, thus helping reduce response times during disasters.

The first among several planned across the country, the mechanised emergency assistance pack production facility launched by the National Resource Operations Centre (NROC) in the suburb of Pasay City on Wednesday will help improve the national response capacity, officials said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) set up the packaging plant with the help of the United Nations World Food Programme and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development.

“Speed is of the essence in delivering essential survival requirements to people in desperate situations following a natural disaster. This UK government-supported programme will mean that food in the right condition will be delivered quicker and more efficiently. We are pleased to introduce the mechanised production system here in the country,” said Praveen Agrawal, WFP Philippines Representative and Country Director.

Delivery of food assistance and other relief is critical during disaster situations, DSWD and officials from the international community said they had drawn on their experience during typhoon Haiyan in 2013 to arrive at the Mechanised Production System facility.

During the onslaught of Haiyan (known in the Philippines as typhoon Yolanda) in Central Visayas and Western Visayas, most of the structures were destroyed by the super typhoon. All commercial activity ground to a halt as stores were damaged and millions of homes, destroyed. Telecommunication was very limited and the various islands such as Leyte, Samar, parts of Negros and Panay were all isolated and unreachable by land transport.

“We are pleased to introduce the mechanised production system here in the country,” said Agrawal.

“This will make a huge difference in the aftermath of a disaster as we are now able to significantly expand the number of people to which we can provide immediate life-saving food,” UK Ambassador to the Philippines, Asif Ahmad added.

The newly inaugurated NROC facility houses rice-bagging machines, case erectors, a conveyor system and a pallet racking system. It will allow the government to produce more than 50,000 family food packs per day in the event of a disaster — enough to feed more than 250,000 people for three days.

The facility produces family food packs. Each pack is boxed in cartons and contains rice, canned goods and coffee.

The mechanised production system is capable of assemble all of the rations in one streamlined process.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said aside from the facility in Pasay City, similar mechanised aid packaging facilities will be put up in other parts of the country such as in Clark in northern Luzon, Cebu in the Visayas and General Santos City in Southern Philippines.

The NROC will also provide a training programme that focuses on emergency logistics and the disaster response supply chain.