A further 45 tonnes of bottled water and collapsible jerry cans are to be sent to the Maldives where there remains a pressing need for clean drinking water. The UK Department for International Development has booked and funded a flight to the Maldives to carry water and cans donated by Scottish Water and Strathmore Water. The aircraft - a DC8 - will leave Prestwick Airport, Glasgow at 19:00 GMT Monday 3 January. The flight will stop off in Bengazi (Libya) for refuelling before arriving in Male in the Maldives on Wednesday 5 January. This is the second airlift of water from the UK to the Maldives. On Wednesday 29 December a charter plane provided by First Choice Holidays took water donated by Scottish Water to the Maldives. Writing in The Observer today, Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development, said: "Our teams have reported back on the increasing scale of destruction and loss of life. We have pledged £50m based on their assessment of the need and in response to requests from the Red Cross, UN and UK aid agencies. We are now committing this money to support the relief effort. This will be the largest humanitarian relief operation in history and it is important every country does all it can. The UK has made a substantial commitment and we will do more as required." Hilary Benn also urged the public to support the appeal by Britain's aid agencies under the umbrella of The Disasters Emergency Committee online or by telephone on 0870 6060 900. Money pledged to the DEC agencies and by the UK Government on behalf of British taxpayers is now over £110 million and is already being put to work in the affected countries. More news and information on the humanitarian response, including daily situation reports, is available on DFID's website: www.dfid.gov.uk   

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