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T&T is moving swiftly to coordinate a massive national relief effort for our closest geographic neighbour, Venezuela, following last Wednesday's catastrophic twin earthquakes.

With the death toll in the South American nation now crossing seventeen hundred, the government has designated all fourteen municipal corporations as official collection points for public donations.

The urgency of the local relief drive comes amid a strong aftershock, which brought renewed panic to the streets of Caracas at seven o'clock this morning.

Alicia Boucher has the details in this report.

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Transcript
00:00Several entities have met, inclusive of those under the state and non-governmental organizations,
00:06to streamline relief support for Venezuela as a massive humanitarian crisis continues to unfold.
00:13PLEBDECO is being used as the launching pad to get the aid,
00:16especially those donated in bulk to the neighboring country,
00:20after two devastating earthquakes struck minutes apart last Wednesday.
00:24Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadija Amin
00:28is suing a reminder that all 14 municipal corporations have been designated collection points
00:34and tugging on the hearts of the country to help.
00:38So the members of the public would be free to bring their items in.
00:43There are some supermarkets who are part of the Supermarkets Association
00:46who will also provide collection points and that will be delivered to the corporations.
00:53The objective is at the end of the collection period,
00:56those items will be packaged in a particular way
01:00that is easy to be received by an individual in Venezuela, given the circumstances.
01:08Basic commodities on the island are lacking, such as water for drinking.
01:13Minister Amin outlines the importance of a targeted approach to the donations,
01:17amid the chaos being experienced following the tragic incident.
01:21We encourage people to send things like dry goods, flour, rice, peas and so on,
01:27canned goods, sugar, powdered milk, peanut butter, crackers, those type of things,
01:33as well as items such as medical supplies, over-the-counter drugs and painkillers,
01:41gauze, bandages, antiseptic ointments and those type of things
01:45that we could easily get to individuals.
01:48But from the ground level, better coordination of the efforts will lend to a smoother process.
01:54We encourage you to do your own collection drive by engaging your communities
02:00because there are many people who want to contribute.
02:03First Citizens Bank has also opened a Venezuela disaster relief fund
02:09where persons can contribute via transferring money online or going in to make deposits,
02:15and all of those monies will be going directly to Venezuela.
02:20Today at 7 a.m., the country's capital, Caracas, was struck by an aftershock,
02:25measuring magnitude 4.6 by the United States Geological Survey
02:30and 5.1 by Colombia's Geological Survey.
02:33It triggered sirens, sending people who are living in makeshift street shelters into panic,
02:39causing them to flee into open spaces.
02:41While there were no new structural collapses,
02:45ongoing rescue operations were severely disrupted.
02:48At this time, the death toll has climbed to at least 1,719,
02:53with more than 5,034 people injured.
02:57Tens of thousands remain unaccounted for,
03:00with official registries listing over 46,600 people reported missing.
03:06Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
03:11So, we'll be the same faites we recent,
03:12Now you will go down 56,600 people of the country.
03:12You will be the sameMadды,
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