Officials from the Emirates Red Crescent, have inspected the progress of the construction of a UAE-funded hospital in Western Samar, the Philippines.
The delegation led by Chairman of the board of directors of ERC, Hamdan Musallam Al Mazrouie, was accompanied to the site of the project by Stephen James T. Tan, Vice-Governor of Samar Province.
When completed the hospital, which is part of the US$10 million in aid ordered by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will serve more than 350,000 citizens in the Philippine province which was ravaged by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013.
Al Mazrouie said that the Dh2 million hospital is being built in cooperation with the local government and that, in the second phase, it will be provided with modern medical equipment.
The ERC senior official added that the humanitarian agency is planning a new healthcare centre in Dolores City, Eastern Samar. The project which will cost Dh2 million will serve more than 124,000 people in the province.
Al Mazrouie emphasised that ERC is working under directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and is supported by Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Western Region and President of ERC.
He noted that ERC, in addition to providing emergency assistance at times of disaster in the short term, works on enhancing development of the affected communities in the long term.
Source: WAM