Hospital Authority Chairman Anthony Wu (third on the left) and Chief Executive Shane Solomon (right) take pictures with the authority's medical team upon its return to the city at the Hong Kong International Airport yesterday. The team was in Sichuan providing medical treatment to earthquake victims. China Daily

To help Sichuan earthquake victims resume normal lives, the Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) will appropriate an estimated 635 million yuan on recovery and reconstruction work in the shattered province.

As at yesterday, the HKRC had collected over HK$665 million in donations.

After sending eight relief and medical teams to the affected areas, the HKRC plans to assist in reconstructing the quake-hit areas in phases.

Earthquake victims are still in urgent need for relief materials such as tents, quilts and daily necessities. Hence the HKRC will spend about 25 million yuan to procure and distribute these materials to victims in Sichuan and Gansu provinces.

The HKRC has so far purchased over 3,000 tents, 34,000 quilts and 5,000 family kits which consist of cooking utensils and cleaning reagents, said director Ivy Wu.

However, the HKRC encountered difficulty in transporting these relief materials due to inaccessible roads.

And during the recovery phase, the HKRC will send a mobile medical team to remote districts in Sichuan to provide medical services and education on hygiene and disease control.

The HKRC is also transporting medical instruments and medicine to Sichuan.

Three staff members set off yesterday to Sichuan to carry out medical services. They will be joined by more workers by weekend. They will stay for about two weeks.

Meanwhile, the HKRC will spend 100 million yuan on temporary housing.

About 12 million yuan will be allocated to the construction of temporary healthcare facilities and services.

Another 5.5 million yuan will be used for building temporary schools.

Hong Kong Red Cross workers show photos taken during their visit to quake-devastated Sichuan province at the organization's headquarters in Hong Kong yesterday. Edmond Tang

After the transitional stage, the HKRC will spend about 347 million yuan to rebuild villages, water supply facilities, schools and rehabilitation centers.

As Gansu and Shaanxi provinces also suffered severe damages, the HKRC will allocate 50 million yuan to each of the provinces to rebuild schools, housing, clinics and water supply facilities.

The HKRC expects the whole reconstruction stage to take three years.

HKRC secretary general Chan Kai-ming said having enough medical facilities are of utmost importance.

In the last phase, 30 million yuan will be spent on setting up emergency medical facilities, and 15 million yuan for the promotion of disaster preparedness in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi.

A liaison office based in Chengdu will be set up and will follow up on the plans, Chan added.

He called on professionals such as architects and rehabilitation practitioners to register as volunteers to assist in rebuilding Sichuan.

"We hope the victims will adapt to changes brought by the disaster as quickly as possible," Chan said.

(HK Edition 05/29/2008 page1)