DONATED JCB BACKHOES PROVE THEIR WORTH IN CHINESE QUAKE REGION
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JCB machines donated to the Chinese earthquake relief effort by company Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford are now helping families in the devastated region rebuild their lives.
The six JCB backhoe loaders worth $600,000 were given as a gift to the Chinese people in the wake of last month’s giant quake which left more than 68,000 people dead. Now the first pictures of the machines at work in the area show how the versatility of the diggers is proving vital as the Sichuan Province battles to recover from the disaster.
The images were taken by British JCB employee Joe Cook, 30, who works at JCB’s factory in Shanghai as Product Promotions Manager and where the backhoe loaders are manufactured. He was among a team of operators, including Chinese colleagues Terry Liu, Jules Zhu, Frank Shang, Craig Zhang and Peter Sun who were dispatched to the region to assist in training in the use of the machines.
So far the tasks completed by the JCB machines include clearance of blocked roads to enable soldiers to reach areas cut off by the quake; general earthmoving duties to help create camps for evacuated survivors; site clearance to enable temporary housing to be built; demolition of buildings and even repairing farmland irrigation systems damaged in the disaster. Some of the most moving work for the team came during clear up operations at schools where they came into contact with parents who had lost children and children who had lost their parents in the disaster.
Sir Anthony Bamford said: “I’m very pleased that JCB and our machines have been able to help in some small way in the relief effort.”
Shortly after the donation the People’s Liberation Army also ordered 30 additional JCB backhoe loaders and the team of JCB employees in the area helped train operators in their use.
Joe Cook, a native of Malton, North Yorkshire, and also formerly of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, said: “The Chinese were genuinely very grateful for Sir Anthony Bamford’s donation and at one point I was invited by the Engineering Department of the Chinese Armed Military Police to their camp so they could personally thank JCB for the donation and the demonstrators for their assistance.
“This was extremely humbling. Despite being so busy with the aftermath of this terrible disaster and the acute shortage of food, the Police still felt it important to lay on what was the best meal I’d had since arriving in the region just to say thanks to JCB.”
Joe, who has just returned from the quake zone, saw first hand the devastation and the human suffering created by the quake with thousands of people choosing to camp in the street rather than return to their homes because of the fear of severe aftershocks.
“I experienced many aftershocks which was absolutely terrifying and you can only imagine the fear of all those people who were sadly caught up in the earthquake. I also had a volunteer translator who took me around to some of the areas worse affected and she told me some heart-rending stories including one about one of her friends who had lost eight family members and who had to sell all her belongings so she could afford to pay for decent funerals.”
ENDS
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