As per initial estimates, Pakistan is in dire need of more than 350 million dollars immediately to carry out much needed mitigation, recovery and rehabilitation schemes in areas like Food Security, Health, Shelters, Coordination and Logistics.
Chairman Senate, Mr. Farooq H. Naek said this while addressing a function organised by Mr. Javed Malik, a prominent Pakistani businessman in Dubai.
The relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the rain-hit people are no doubt such challenges, which require a joint international response since we need far more resources than we currently have.
Chairman Senate who is visiting UAE along with other senators to sensitise the international community about the seriousness of the flood situation in Pakistan said that meeting the daunting challenges posed by the devastating floods on both socio-economic and human fronts is a huge undertaking and certainly beyond the capacity of any single nation.
Apprising the audience about the calamities which affected Pakistan in recent years, Chairman Senate said that in spite of resource constraints in the face of Pakistan’s front line role in the global war on terror, the Government of Pakistan, under the directions of President Asif Ali Zardari, has gone an extra mile to mitigate the effects of natural calamities like floods that have devastated the country for the second consecutive year now. The magnitude of the calamity is however so huge that the Government needs the support to alleviate the suffering of over seven million affectees, he added. Briefing about the relief efforts, he pointed out that the federal government has so far provided relief goods worth well over two billion Rupees for the flood affectees of Sindh, which include tents, medicines, food, clean drinking water and other required goods. It is expected that in continuity of relief, this amount will touch around Rs7 billion mark by September 30.
Delineating the role of Senate in this regard Chairman Senate apprised that on its part, Senate of Pakistan, too, effectively played its constitutional and representative role in addressing this national calamity. In this regard, the recent session of the Senate dealt exclusively with the issue in which members displayed deep concern over the ravages of the flood and emphasized prompt relief efforts, he said. He said that through exemplary consensus and harmony displayed across the political spectrum in the upper house, a special committee was constituted, which then formed sub-committees that collected donations amounting to 15 million rupees. He called upon the international community to provide both immediate and long-term assistance to supplement the efforts by filling all the resource gaps. International cooperation, he said, is vital for recovering from these losses. “The affected people at relief camps under the open sky are waiting for immediate assistance. Much needs to be done beyond what the government has done so far,” he said.
He urged the Pakistani expatriates, especially those residing in the UAE, to come forward and contribute to the relief efforts through generous donations and assistance. “It is high time that all expatriate Pakistani, wherever they are in the world, get united and help their brothers and sisters in Pakistan, especially Sindh, in their hour of trial and tribulations,” he said. He also called upon the affluent personalities of UAE in particular and international community in general to come forward to help alleviate the sufferings of the flood-affected people of Pakistan.
He said that he was optimistic that international humanitarian organizations and relief agencies will realize the urgency and take immediate steps by expediting and redoubling their efforts for the relief and rehabilitation of affected people.
