Sri Lanka Telecom and Mobitel have joined the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology to support the Disaster Management Centre to help victims hit by heavy rains and subsequent floods that have occurred in the northern and eastern parts of the country, especially in Kalkudahi and Ampara areas.
SLT said its Disaster Recovery Management team is in the process of enabling all its regional offices and field maintenance centres as collection centres for essential goods for distribution to flood victims. The company, together with the Ministry of Telecommunication and IT and the Disaster Management Centre, will co-ordinate the distribution of collected goods amongst the flood victims. SLT said in the statement that it will maintain records of donors including their name, description of collected items, quantity and the name of the person handing over the items and the company will assume responsibility for the proper and safe storage of collected items until they are handed over to the relevant authorities for distribution.
“SLT has also made telephone facilities available to the public at its islandwide Regional Offices and also at the flood victim camps to enable essential telephone calls to be made ‘free-of-charge’ to and from camps, to enable people to communicate with their loved ones in affected areas, free of charge during this disaster situation,” it said.
SLT and its subsidiary Mobitel is also encouraging to donate by sending a text message from their Mobitel mobile phone or SLT CDMA fixed phone to the special number ‘5050’ where the customer will be charged Rs 10 for each text message which will be matched Rupee for Rupee by SLT or Mobitel as the case may be and donated to the relief efforts.
Commenting on the flood situation in the country, and the role played by SLT in relief efforts, Nimal Welgama, Chairman of SLT said, “The recent flood situation is very disturbing and our hearts go out to the many families that have been affected. As the National Communication Provider, it is our responsibility to come forward and support our nation during this difficult time.” |
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