Charity calls for engineers

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “There is a shortage of engineers for [aid] initiatives around the world”

The charity currently has 200 engineers from a variety of backgrounds on its register ready to respond to aid agencies’ requests.

A spokesperson said RedR has sufficient numbers of engineers on its books to deal with the aftermath of Tsunami, however, it still needs engineers for disaster relief around the world. “We have sufficient engineers to respond to requests from aid agencies for specialists to help with the reconstruction of Tsunami-hit countries but engineers are still needed to help with disaster relief work elsewhere in the world,” a spokeswoman said.

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering and the British Consultants and Construction Bureau have joined forces to call on member firms to back RedR and International Health Exchange. In a joint statement the organisations called for water, sanitation and construction engineers to assist RedR by offering support.

Sanitation, construction engineers and logisticians from RedR are working on disaster relief in Tsunami-hit countries. “We’ve sent 18 engineers so far from a variety of backgrounds to Sri Lanka and Indonesia,” said the spokeswoman.

In a statement issued on 12 January, RedR said the focus of the relief effort was shifting from immediate life-saving to planning for reconstruction.

Paul Kelly, a sanitation specialist, with Louth County Council, Dundalk, Ireland, has just returned from Sri Lanka. Kelly was part of an advance team of engineers from Irish charity Goal sent to the region to assess the reconstruction needs.

He says the disaster relief is underway, but the test will be in the future. “The real challenge will be in ensuring appropriate reconstruction work for the medium to long term” he said.

• To register with RedR visit: www.onlinejobs.redr.org