Abu Dhabi: The Nepalese Embassy and community groups have received more than 65 tonnes of relief materials from residents across the UAE, Nepalese officials told Gulf News on Wednesday.
“Of more than 40 tonnes of goods the embassy received as of Tuesday, we have already handed over 30 tonnes to Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) and the rest will be given on Thursday,” said Dhananjay Jha, Nepalese Ambassador to the UAE.
As Gulf News reported on Monday, the ERC stepped in to ship the goods to Nepal as the embassy and community were scouting for a free cargo service and storage space to handle the goods and speed up the relief efforts.
The embassy and community groups led by Non-Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA), an umbrella organisation registered with the government of Nepal, have been receiving non-financial aid — mainly tents, blankets, dry foods, clothes and medicines — from residents across the UAE.
Krishna Bhusal, president of the UAE chapter of NRNA, said around 25 tonnes of goods received by the NRNA’s regional committees in Dubai and Sharjah were also handed over to the ERC. The volunteers are packing the remaining goods at the embassy and the collection centres in Dubai and Sharjah, he said.
Meanwhile around 15 Indian community organisations in the capital have started a collection drive of relief materials for the earthquake victims. “We have already started receiving the materials at the Indian Social and Cultural Centre (ISC) office at Al Mina area [which coordinate the efforts],” Ramesh Panicker, honorary president of the ISC, said. “We will hand over the goods to the Nepalese Embassy.” Community groups from all regions of India are cooperating in the campaign and the response has been overwhelming, Panicker said.
The Nepalese Ambassador, who attended a meeting of Indian organisations, welcomed their initiative. “It is a nice step they have taken.”
“Around 70 per cent of the donations we received so far is from the Indian community,” the envoy said.
An estimated 2.6 million Indians constitute the largest expatriate population in the UAE.
The ambassador said many organisations and individuals have directly sent the money to the Nepal Prime Minister’s disaster relief fund. A group of students from an Indian school in Sharjah visited him and gave him a copy of the receipt of an Dh80,000 donation they sent. Many businesses also have directly sent the money, he said.
It is a good gesture that many exchange centres have waived the remittance fee for sending money to Nepal, Jha said.