Locust crop sprayers arrive from UK

Islamabad: A total of 40 crop sprayers manufactured by the British company Micron Group were delivered to the National Disaster Management Authority by the UK’s Royal Air Force on Monday morning to help Pakistan tackle the devastating locust outbreak.

The sprayers are part of a larger order made directly by the NDMA, underlining the close UK-Pakistan trading relationship. These are in addition to the 20 sprayers which were sent to Pakistan earlier under a £1m UK aid package to support the Government of Pakistan to tackle the national emergency.

The use of the British Military flight allowed the maximum number of sprayers to be delivered in the quickest time possible and without transportation costs for Pakistan. Acting British High Commissioner Alison Blackburne said the consignment was a great example of UK-Pakistan co-operation.

The sprayers were delivered from RAF Brize Norton, a military airbase in the UK. The flight will also deliver essential supplies for the UK Defence Section to continue to deliver critical Counter-IED Capacity Building to Pakistan in a long-running project which has saved numerous lives over the last five years.