Another country (among many) that deserves a special thank you for dispatching raid help to Pakistan.
**DART arrives in Pakistan **
The main body of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, has arrived in Pakistan. The team will be split between the disaster zones in Muzaffarabad and Gahri Dupatta, but say they’re hoping to be operational by the weekend. The team will set up a medical clinic and water purification units to help survivors of the Asian earthquake. Maj. Julia Atherley-Blight, deputy commanding officer of DART, told CBC News that her team members are “tired but excited about doing the work.” Master bombardier Robert Hall is one of those soldiers anxious to get to work. “There’s a lot of destruction I’ve been sitting home feeling badly about it and I’m glad that I have the opportunity to come and help out with that,” he said.
DART commander, Lt.-Col. Mike Voith, says the team will take a day to rest and complete their training for the mission, then they’ll begin setting up a field hospital and water purification system. “We hope to be operational - initial operating capability with a water supply unit and initial medical capability - later this week,” he said. The deployment of DART will likely cost between $14 million and $17 million, but the government says it is worth the cost and dismisses opposition accusations that it is nothing more than a photo-op.
http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=cbc/world_home&articleID=2059236