Economic Zones World has announced the launch of a humanitarian fund-raising campaign in association with the UAE branch of Human Appeal International to help the victims of the recent earthquake and storms in Indonesia, the Philippines and India.

Three authorised collection desks have been set up for the purpose in Jafza to receive donations from community members working in companies within the free zone.

Monetary donations are being accepted from Wednesday morning and representatives of the Human Appeal International, along with EZW representatives, will be present at the help desk where donations can be made.

Companies can also collect money from their employees and deposit it at the desk. Donors have the option of contributing to all the affected countries or to any one of them if they so wish.

The natural disasters have left hundreds of people dead and tens of thousands more homeless in all three countries.

“EZW is home to more than 6,000 companies and over 130,000 people from various countries work here at Jafza alone. We believe even donations as modest as Dh10 from each one of us will make a huge difference in our efforts to raise funds,” said  Fatma Salem, executive vice president and commercial director, Economic Zones World, UAE Region.

Large parts of the Philippines capital Manila and surrounding areas are still under water after being hit by Typhoon Ketsana nine days ago. It was the worst flooding in decades and claimed more than 250 lives, left 80 per cent of Manila under water and made tens of thousands of people homeless.

Meanwhile, the west coast of the Indonesian Island of Sumatra is still reeling from two consecutive earthquakes that struck over a 48-hour period last week. The death toll has crossed 1,000 and continues to mount as the full scale of the disaster unfolds with the progress of the rescue operations.

And in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the death toll from flooding triggered by torrential rains has already risen to 280, while 2.5 million people have been made homeless.-TradeArabia News Service