NewsScotland’s £1m gift to Pakistan
By Campbell Gunn They’re giving emergency funding of £500,000 for humanitarian aid and more than £400,000 of development funding. It’s estimated there are more than four million people in Pakistan affected by the floods with more than 1600 dead. The announcement came as more rain fell on the devastated country. The most pressing needs are reported to be for clean drinking water, food, shelter and healthcare. Immediate aid The £500,000 emergency funding will be made available to support immediate aid efforts by Scottish-based organisations. External Affairs Minister Fiona Hyslop said, “It’s our moral duty to do whatever is in our power to ease the suffering of the people whose lives have been devastated. “In providing assistance Scotland is saying it cares.” A further £415,450 has been allocated to projects in Pakistan this year under the South Asia strand of the Government’s international development programme. Mass evacuations are under way in the southern province of Sindh after the Indus River rose. The intense flooding that began about two weeks ago has washed away roads, bridges and many communications lines. Monsoon rains have grounded helicopters trying to rescue people and ferry aid, including six manned by US troops. Fresh downpours Floodwaters receded in the north-west, but downpours yesterday swelled rivers and streams. Meteorologist Farooq Dar said heavy rains in Afghanistan were expected to make things even worse over the next 36 hours as the bloated Kabul River surged into Pakistan’s north-west. That will likely mean more woes for Punjab and Sindh as new river torrents flow east and south. Authorities have given varying tolls for the number of people among Pakistan’s 175 million impacted by the floods. The UN said four million people had been affected but Pakistani officials have put the figure much higher. In the north-west and Punjab, floods have displaced 12 million people, said Amal Masud, an official with the National Disaster Management Authority. In Sindh province, about a million people have been evacuated or are being helped out of their homes. Pakistan’s military said it had rescued more than 100,000 people from the flood-affected areas, while 568 army boats and 31 helicopters were being used for the rescue operation. Relief camps Some 30,000 Pakistani soldiers are rebuilding bridges, delivering food and setting up relief camps in the north-west, which is the main battleground in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Foreign countries and the United Nations have donated millions of dollars. Also helping in the relief effort are Islamist charities, including the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, which Western officials believe is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba. Lashkar is the militant group blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, Pakistan’s regional arch-rival. The Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation says it is running 12 medical facilities, providing cooked food for 100,000 people daily, and plans to open shelters soon. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appealed for national unity. “I request all the political parties be united and work together to help the flood victims,” he said, adding that the government is doing everything it can to move people to safer ground. Gilani was scheduled to travel to flood-hit areas in but bad weather forced authorities to delay his visit for a day. n The son of Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari angrily denied using the devastating floods for political gain. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also defended his father’s visit to the UK as he launched a formal appeal for aid. |
© All copyright D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd., 2010 |
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