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THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020
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USD3.19B appeal to help vulnerable
people amid COVID-19 pandemic
James Kon
The International RedCross and Red
Crescent Movement is appealing
for USD3.19 billion to provide urgent
needed assistance to the world’s
most vulnerable people amid the
ongoing COVID19 pandemic.
According to a press statement,
the fund aims to increase life-saving
services and support to address
both the immediate impacts of the
pandemic and its long-lasting social
and economic repercussions. The
coordinated appeal builds on the
previous one launched on March
26, 2020.
According to the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement, ive months since
it began the pandemic has
threatened every aspect of people’s
lives,
amplifying
inequalities,
destabilising communities and
reversing development gains made
in the past decade.
International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies (IFRC) Secretary General
Jagan Chapagain said, “In fragile
humanitarian
contexts,
the
COVID19 pandemic is creating
new vulnerabilities for people
who are already most at risk. We
now face a crisis on top of a crisis
with worsening poverty and food
insecurity alongside crippling
economic conditions and a lack of
public health services, safe water,
sanitation and hygiene.”
“National Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies’ local volunteers
and staff are delivering life-saving
services and equipment to contain
Habitual thief gets
40 months’ jail, whipping
for housebreaking
A habitual thief was sentenced
by the Intermediate Court to
40 months’ imprisonment and
two strokes of the cane, after
he pleaded guilty to yet another
housebreaking for theft offence.
Judge Radin Sa iee bin Radin
Mas Basiuni yesterday took into
consideration the mitigating
factors of Mohammad Farid
Adilah bin Kamal’s case, which
included his instant guilty plea,
as well as the extensive factors
aggravating the case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor
Ahmad Firdaus bin Mohammad
informed the court that the
26-year-old had been heading
for home along Jalan Ban 3 in
Kampong Pasai at 3am on May
25, when he came across a house
which appeared unoccupied.
He scaled the fence, went
around to the back of the house
and reached into a ventilator to
unlock the storage room door. He
then used a ladder to climb over
the garage and enter the house
through a bathroom window.
Once inside, he took a sling
bag containing a wallet with
BND400, before leeing the scene.
At 2.30pm on the same day, the
house owner returned to ind that
the house had been broken into.
After checking CCTV footage
which captured the break-in, the
owner iled a police report that
led to the defendant’s arrest.
In
police
custody,
the
defendantadmittedtocommitting
the offence, and that he had used
the money to buy food and for
online gambling.
Judge Radin Sa iee took into
account the defendant’s instant
guilty plea, remorse and his hard-
ship in inding a job. However, the
court was drawn to consider the
fact that the defendant had been
released from prison in January,
for a previous conviction of a
house trespass-related offence.
The judge also reminded the
defendant to change his ways and
habits upon release from prison.
Thecourt hoped thedefendant
would re lect on his life ahead,
being young and losing time
in prison, which he could have
used in a positive way to earn an
income and build a family.
the spread of the pandemic,
and address the deterioration in
vulnerable people’s livelihoods
and socio-economic situations.
Protecting and supporting these
communities require a sustained
and coordinated scale-up of Red
Cross and Red Crescent local action
alongside ongoing global response
efforts,” he added.
The International Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement consists
of three parts: The International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
IFRC and 192 National Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies.
ICRC Director-General Robert
Mardini said, “This pandemic
is creating crisis-level needs
that will endure long into the
future, whether for mental health
support, con lict zone medical aid
or livelihood assistance. The ICRC
is working hand-in-hand with
the Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement at the intersection of
the pandemic, armed con lict
and violence to ensure that we
assist both now and beyond the
pandemic’s immediate effects to
help families in the long-run.”
The IFRC is appealing for
USD1.95 billion to support the
National Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies in providing
healthcare, water and sanitation,
and mitigation against the socio-
economic impacts for the most
vulnerable people. The funds will
also strengthen national societies’
capacities as key local actors to
deliver these critical services and
programmes and ensure their
volunteers/staff are protected and
supported during this crisis.
The ICRC is appealing for
USD1.24 billion to respond in
places of con lict and violence,
to support medical facilities
and places of detention, curb
the spread and ensure medical
access for displaced people and
detainees, and to support National
Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies in their response.
Since the beginning of the
pandemic, the movement has
supported national societies to
increase their healthcare services,
community
engagement
and
pandemic preparedness activities
for vulnerable populations.
The National Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies across the world
have scaled up their response to
address the different health and
socio-economic needs in their
countries. Frontline volunteers
are also helping to trace contacts,
isolate and treat people with
COVID19.
The International Red Cross
and Red Crescent Movement is
the world’s largest humanitarian
network. Its community-based
volunteers and staff help the
world’s most vulnerable people,
including those living in countries
with under-resourced health and
social welfare systems; people
recovering from recent disasters;
migrants and displaced people;
those in con lict zones and who
face ongoing violence; people in
urban slums; detainees; and people
suffering from the socio-economic
impact of COVID19.
A 58-year-old local man was in-
dicted with a charge of assault-
ing a dentist, at the Magistrate’s
Court yesterday.
The allegation against Chris-
topher Cheok stated that he had
assaulted a “government dental
of icer during an altercation at
the National Dental Centre on
April 6 by pointing his inger to
the victim’s face, while uttering
obscenities, causing him to ap-
prehend that the defendant was
about to use criminal force to-
wards him.”
The defendant’s lawyer, Robin
Cheok informed the court that
the defendant was not ready to
have his plea recorded and asked
for more time to consider the
case and to advise the defendant,
when DPP Nurul Fitri binti Kiprawi
applied for the charge to be read
and the defendant’s plea to be
recorded.
Magistrate Dewi Norlelawati
binti Haji Abdul Hamid adjourned
the case to July 1. The defendant
Man charged with assaulting dentist
Fadley Faisal
was released on court bail for a sum
of BND1,500 or one local surety, with
the condition that the defendant is
not to approach the victim, directly
or indirectly.
The
charge
against
the
defendant carries a maximum
penalty of a year’s jail and a ine.
The Attorney General’s Chambers
issued a reminder to the public
that verbal or physical threats
made towards public servants is
an offence under the Penal Code,
Chapter 22, and punishable.