JCB donate kit to Philippines disaster
Company sending machines and generators worth more than $500,000 to help with relief effort
JCB have responded to the Filipino typhoon disaster with the news that machines and generators worth more than $500,000 are to be provided to assist in the aftermath of the catastrophe.
The company is sending a fleet of three 3CX backhoe loaders to help in the clear-up operations following typhoon Haiyan, which was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded on land and which has left up to 2,500 people dead.
In addition, more than 120 JCB electrical generators are being provided through the company’s Filipino dealer Camec. The generators are already being used to power community buildings, including hospitals and local authority premises. The JCB backhoes will be deployed in clear-up operations in the province of Tacloban City.
JCB have a long history of helping countries affected by major natural disasters and this is the second time the company has sent aid to the Philippines. In 2006 JCB sent a fleet of 3CX backhoe loaders after typhoon Reming hit the Bicol region, destroying much of the infrastructure.
JCB chairman Lord Bamford said: ‘The human suffering and scenes of devastation in the Philippines have been heart-rending and I hope JCB’s contribution to the relief effort will help, in some small way, those who are bearing the brunt of this disaster.
‘One of the main challenges facing rescue workers is clearing roads in the affected areas and the JCB backhoe is exactly the right machine for the job of removing debris.’
This latest contribution follows a series of other JCB machinery donations in recent years to other parts of the world hit by natural disasters, including machines worth more than £1 million to help in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami in 2004.
In 2008, six backhoe loaders worth more than $600,000 were donated to help with the clear-up in the aftermath of an earthquake in Sichuan province in China, and a year later the company donated an excavator and a backhoe loader worth $250,000 to help the disaster relief effort in the city of Padang following the devastating earthquake that struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
In 2010, JCB donated diggers worth $150,000 to help the disaster relief effort in Haiti following the devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people. The gift of two 3CX backhoe loaders was made by JCB Chairman Lord Bamford in response to an appeal from relief agencies for foreign aid.
