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Statement by the Minister of National Defence on Canada's Response to the Tsunami in Asia
January 3, 2005
Following yesterday's preliminary report from the Interdepartmental Reconnaissance Team, we have now received confirmation of the site suitability work conducted in the past 24 hours.
I spoke with the Prime Minister less than an hour ago and recommended that the DART be deployed to the vicinity of Ampara, Sri Lanka.
Ampara is a district of approximately 600,000 people located on the east coast of Sri Lanka. The region was one of the worst affected of all districts by the December 26 tsunami and suffered an estimated 10,000 deaths. An estimated total of 105,560 people have been forced to seek temporary shelters.
The DART will be deployed commencing Thursday, January 6 and will begin partial operations immediately upon arrival in Ampara and will be in full operation as soon as possible.
The DART serves four critical needs in emergencies, namely:
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primary medical care;
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production of safe drinking water;
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a limited specialist engineer capability; and
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a command and control structure that allows for effective communications between the DART, the host nation, and the other agencies involved in the relief effort, including international organizations, non-governmental organizations and UN aid agencies.
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