Locals vie for tsunami aid work

At least five Western Australian companies are in the running for United Nations contracts to supply power and water solutions to countries hit by the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami.

QED Occtech, in conjunction with other membrane suppliers Citor and Normac, has expressed interest, as has solar energy specialists, Solar Sales.

Solar energy and water solutions company Solco was approached directly by the UN and has been listed as a preferred contractor.

While those five companies await the outcome of their expressions of interest, farming lobby WAFarmers has pulled together the resources of CBH, AWB Limited and World Vision to launch the World Vision Tsunami Relief Pool that aims to collect 5,000 tonnes of grain for those affected by the tsunami in Indonesia.

The grain will be processed into food such as noodles, biscuits and baby food.

A Perth orthopaedic team, consisting of a surgeon, theatre nurse, anaesthetist and assistant will be departing early next month to help those affected by the tsunami in Somalia. 

That team is being led by orthopaedic surgeon Dr Graham Forward and the project is managed by his daughter, Hannah Forward.

The WA Government’s Department of Industry and Resources’ International Development Business Initiative has played a key role in ensuring that WA companies were aware of the UN contracts and applying for them.

The office helps WA companies negotiate the complex international aid system.

QED Occtech business development manager Jason Pugh said the company had listed seven different reverse osmosis desalination systems it could supply.

Those systems range from 5,000 litres to 110,000L and vary in cost from $13,800 to $191,000.

Mr Pugh said the company had applied for the contract for humanitarian reason and would be supplying the systems virtually at cost.

“But it would be good work to have,” he said.

The company’s main business is water treatment solutions and it also built the Rottnest Island desalination plant.

Solar Sales managing director John Hall said his company had offered to supply solar powered home lighting, refrigeration, area lighting and pump systems.

He said the company had done some work with the UN in East Timor.

“We’ve also been approached by two of the governments in the region, Indonesia and Thailand, to come and see them and tell them what we can do to help,” Mr Hall said.

Solco managing director Duncan Stone said his company had also done some work with the UN in East Timor and that work had led to it being listed as a preferred tenderer for the tsunami aid relief.

The company is close to setting up its Solar Flow solar powered desalination plant at the Maldives, which will be capable of providing 1,500L of drinking water a day.

Mr Stone said besides that, the company had come up with a plan to provide drinking water to up to 150,000 people through using its Sun Mill solar pump.

He said in some areas there were bores inland that had not been contaminated by water from the tsunami.

By using a helicopter to lay up to 25 kilometres of flexible piping, water could be pumped from those bores into the tsunami affected areas.