DP World donates water filters in Djibouti

Djibouti, February 15, 2009

Terminal operator DP World has donated 170 water storage and filtration units to more than 60 rural communities across Djibouti.

An estimated 100,000 people, or half the rural population of Djibouti, do not have access to clean drinking water.

DP World chief Mohammad Sharaf marked the start of the filter distribution with a visit to  a “SafeTStop” community resource centre in an area called PK-12, near DP World’s newly inaugurated Doraleh Container Terminal, to formally hand over four of the filters.

PK-12 began some three years ago as a simple rest-stop for truckers bound for the port of Djibouti, and has since grown into a virtual city of some 60,000 people, most of whom have no reliable access to safe drinking water.

“At DP World, we recognise clearly that we are fundamentally part of the communities in which we operate,” said Mohammad Sharaf.

The filter programme was made possible by the coordinated efforts of DP World and Dimension Data, an IT services specialist and DP World supplier, as well as Family Health International (FHI), one of the largest nonprofit organisations active in international public health.

Run by FHI and funded by the United Agency for International Development (Usaid) and Unicef, with backing from the Government of Djibouti, the SafeTStop programme and resource centre at PK-12 offer AIDS-related counseling along with recreational facilities to truckers and vulnerable local populations along the highway linking DP World’s new Doraleh Container Terminal with the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

The resource centre is made from converted shipping containers. There are more than ten such resource centres established across Africa.-TradeArabia News Service

Tags: Water | DP World | Djibouti | Family Health International |