European Parliament resolution on the disastrous floods in Venezuela
C 304/214 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 24. 10. 2000 Thursday 20 January 2000 13. Venezuela B5-0047, 0055, 0060, 0072, 0076 and 0086/2000 European Parliament resolution on the disastrous floods in Venezuela The European Parliament, A. whereas, in addition to the loss of thousands of lives and great human suffering, the disastrous floods which occurred in Venezuela at the end of last year also caused extensive material damage, destroying hundreds of thousands of homes and wiping out important transport and communications infrastruc- tures, B. whereas the Venezuelan Government is faced with the formidable task of rebuilding part of the coun- try, while having to find an immediate solution to the problems of hygiene, housing and health facing hundreds of thousands of people, C. whereas the European Union possesses resources and technical capacity which could be used to assist the Venezuelan Government in its humanitarian and reconstruction efforts, D. whereas this unprecedented natural disaster was exacerbated by unregulated building projects and the violation of environmental and town planning laws, E. concerned at the frequency of climate-related disasters, which could be linked to climate changes caused by the effects of human activity on the environment, F. whereas the Commission has already announced that it intends to provide initial emergency humani- tarian aid of € 3,6 million, Expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and supports the efforts undertaken by the 1. authorities and the people of Venezuela to cope with the floods; 2. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Venezuelan Government, to examine the needs which will have to be met most urgently in order to restore normality to the country and alleviate the desperate plight of the survivors in the areas affected by the floods; 3. Calls also on the Commission to offer the Venezuelan Government assistance in the reconstruction of the areas concerned, making use as far as possible of the additional financial resources and technical assist- ance that can serve this purpose, as was done in the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch; 4. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to play an active part in initiating and organising an international donors’ conference to coordinate international aid in cooperation with third countries and multilateral organisations, in order to help with the reconstruction of the areas affected; 5. Requests that any reconstruction projects should take into account the need to reverse the current destruction of ecosystems, carry out a long-term environmental clean-up programme, extending to rivers and riverbeds and irrigation systems, and develop a sustainable form of agriculture using production meth- ods which guard against erosion; Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of 6. the Member States and the Government of Venezuela