Saudi Reconstruction Program in Yemen has announced the opening of the first office in the island of Socotra and the program’s beginning to alleviate the humanitarian conditions in the area.  Not only is the Program moving people away from the tents and makeshift stone houses into suitable housing, it is also implementing infrastructure projects including roads, electricity, water and sanitation. The Program is also working on providing basic services, such as health and education, and is supporting those working in fishery, agriculture, and livestock. This was achieved by creating an air bridge, with Saudi planes loaded with supplies from King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, which included medical necessities, shelter supplies, and food. The Program has also began digging five wells to increase water capacity within the governorates of Hadibu and Qalansiyah.

With the damage Cyclone Mekunu has brought to Socotra, the Yemen Reconstruction Program Office, in cooperation with the Saudi Joint Forces including its Corps of Engineers and Medical Services, has worked to reopen the roads, repaving what was destroyed and removing debris, to allow the flow of traffic, which had been disrupted. This has allowed movement between the port, the airport, and the surrounding areas. The Saudi Joint Forces are also working on delivering thousands of tons of relief provisions, medical supplies, foodstuffs, and shelter material through the aid air-bridge, with more than 200 thousand tons of aid arriving this week. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to overseeing the flow of aid reaches everyone in need.