CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: France grants 25,000 euro for floods victims.

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

AMSTERDAM, 24 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - France has granted 25,000 euro (US $30,590) to buy medicines for thousands of floods victims in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday.

It said the money had been channelled through the French embassy in Bangui, which has already arranged to buy drugs from a local pharmaceutical firm. The medicines, which are to be handed over the NGOs for distribution, are to combat malaria, typhoid, diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases, and parasites.

This donation follow appeals by the CAR government after first torrential rains battered Bangui on 6 and 7 August, inundating the eastern and southern parts of the city. CAR Red Cross officials say at least 14,517 residents have been affected by the floods.

Since October 2004, the French Development Agency has undertook a 2.3-billion-franc CFA ($42.8 million) water drainage project in a number of districts in Bangui, which, when completed, would prevent floods of this nature.

[CAR: Red Cross distributes non-food items to Bangui flood victims]
[CAR: Red Cross gets some $39,024 for flood victims]

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