Industry support grows for Alpha tsunami appeal

Dermot Davitt

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The fund established by Alpha Orient Lanka and Centaur Travel Retail to aid a Sri Lankan community devastated by tsunami has drawn widespread support from the trade

The duty-free industry has moved quickly to support efforts by Alpha Orient Lanka and Centaur Travel Retail to provide relief for victims of last week's tsunami in Sri Lanka. The Alpha Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief Fund was launched in the aftermath of the disaster, which killed at least 140,000 people, although the true figure could be much higher.

Sri Lanka suffered the highest death toll outside Indonesia, at 30,000, with thousands more missing in the badly affected south-east of the country. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes. But now, heavy rain on the east coast is adding to the misery of the displaced, whose homes were swept away. Sickness and infection are major concerns.

Centaur Travel Retail president Rakhita Jayawardena told ravenfox.com: "The effect of the tsunami was chaotic and destructive, and the Alpha charity project is a move to try to rehabilitate families who have lost everything. We have identified 10 families in a community in the south of the country (a place called Palliyawatta) where donations from the industry will make a difference, whether it's to rebuild a house, provide tools to go back to work, school books for children or post-trauma counselling. These people escaped with their lives, thankfully, but have nothing else. We've given them some clothes and food aid but now they need financial assistance to rebuild their lives. In this case we are able to show directly how any money pledged will make a difference."

Jayawardena said companies such as King Power Hong Kong, Dubai Duty Free as well as Alpha Airports Group were among those to have given generously to date. "On Friday we had raised $35,000, but with the pledges over the weekend we may now be closer to $50,000."

Bank account details for the fund are as follows:

Alpha Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief Fund
A/c No: 002-0785788

Hatton National Bank Limited
City Office
No. 16 Janadhipathi Mawatha
Colombo 1
Sri Lanka

SWIFT CODE: HBLILKLX

Meanwhile other travel-retail companies have heeded the call to action. Everrich Duty Free has pledged to donate a portion of its sales revenues from January 1 to February 28 2005 to countries affected by the tsunami tragedy. A spokesman said: ?We have appealed to our business partners to come together to provide aid to the victims in the areas ravage by the tsunami.?

Liquor company Pernod Ricard has also been quick to respond, donating Eu700,000 ($942,286) to international humanitarian organisations and local ones assisting the victims of the disaster in Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.