UK – WEST AFRICA – A vast range of equipment is needed in West Africa to help the fight against the Ebola outbreak there and besides deploying the major casualty vessel RFA Argus and three Merlin helicopters to give logistical support to the medical teams and aid experts working in the field, the UK government has flown out three fork lift trucks supplied by Jungheinrich UK Ltd to support efforts in Sierra Leone.
The Department for International Development (DfID) acquired the trucks, a 7-tonne diesel-powered counterbalanced machine and two smaller 4-tonne diesel-powered counterbalanced vehicles from Jungheinrich’s DFG range, all of which will be used to help transport the wide variety of items required to establish the infrastructure that is urgently required to help tackle the Ebola outbreak.
The UK continues to lead the international response in Sierra Leone and has so far committed £125 million to tackle Ebola. This includes supporting 700 treatment beds to help up to 8,800 patients over six months, as well as shoring up the country’s stretched public health services to help contain the disease.
The 7-tonne truck was fitted with extended forks to help manoeuvre large and awkwardly shaped loads safely and efficiently and the forklifts were made ready and supplied to be flown to West Africa on a transport plane from East Midlands Airport within a week of the DfID’s approach to Jungheinrich. A spokesman for the DFiD’s procurement office, praised the speed at which Jungheinrich was able to respond to his organisation’s initial enquiry, saying:
“Jungheinrich’s proactive approach to meeting our needs was greatly appreciated. In this situation every minute counts and we would not have been able to achieve what we did in such a short timeframe without the sort of attitude shown by Jungheinrich.”
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