World cannot pay for Pakistan flood disaster: Holbrooke

[Night_Hawk]

World cannot pay for Pakistan flood disaster: Holbrooke
September 20th 2010

The international community will not be able to pick up the full cost of reconstruction, Holbrooke said.File photo
UNITED NATIONS: The outside world cannot foot the entire bill for Pakistan's recovery from devastating floods and the Pakistani government must do more, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke said Monday.

The day after world donors raised aid pledges to almost two billion dollars, Holbrooke said the eventual cost of the monsoon disaster could run into the tens of billions of dollars.

The international community will not be able to pick up the full cost of reconstruction, Holbrooke said.

There will be a need for continued international assistance, but what we need to stress is that at a time of scarcity in other countries, a reconstruction effort cannot be financed completely by other countries.

The US envoy called on the Pakistani government to redouble its efforts to help the 21 million people the UN estimates have been affected by the disaster, including 12 million needing emergency food aid.

They have to take the lead. Pakistanis know they have to do more and how much they do remains to be seen, and what the needs are remain to be seen, Holbrooke said.

USAID chief Rajiv Shah warned Monday that the risk of diseases such as cholera is increasing as people return to their homes.

The first and most critical priority is to prevent the spread of water-borne illnesses, Shah said.

In a flood of this magnitude, even as the flood waters recede, the likelihood of water-borne illness and cholera... actually increase as people go back to their homes but do not have effective and safe sanitation environments, and water doesn't completely recede.

 

[Night_Hawk]

New flood aid comes with calls for accountability

Monday, 20 Sep, 2010

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrive for the meeting on the flood emergency in Pakistan on September 19, 2010 at United Nations headquarters in New York. FM Qureshi said the world community should multiply the impact of Hurricane Katrina in the US in 2005 by 100 times to understand the scope of the devastation. - Photo by AFP.
UNITED NATIONS: World powers made fresh aid pledges for Pakistan's flood disaster on Sunday, after a two-billion-dollar UN appeal, but pressed the stricken nation to fully account for the money.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an “urgent” global response to “one of the biggest, most complex natural disasters we have faced in the history of the United Nations”.
While the official death toll remains at just over 1,700 people, UN agencies say about 21 million people have been affected and 12 million need emergency food aid.
Torrential rain began falling in northern Pakistan in late July and the floods have since been moving slowly south, wiping out villages and farmland.
Britain doubled its flood aid to 210 million dollars, the United States said it is now offering 340 million and the European Union 350 million.
Saudi Arabia said it has also donated 345 million in government and public funds. Moreover, Iran allotted 100 million dollars for its neighbour.
But it was not immediately clear whether the two-billion-dollar target was reached at the meeting of over 25 top ministers, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Aid groups expressed disappointment at the response.
The UN asked for 460 million dollars in August but quadrupled the figure on Friday because of the scope of the disaster.
“This new appeal extends the emergency relief to six months and includes the crucial element of early recovery for the next 12 months. I call for your urgent response,” the UN chief said.
“The floods in Pakistan are a global disaster, a global challenge and a global test of solidarity.
“Of course, we know this is happening in a part of the world where stability and prosperity are profoundly in the world's interests,” he added.
Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmad, head of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, said the country had only 20 per cent of the food and 20 per cent of the water needed for the stricken 20 million people.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the world community should multiply the impact of Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005 by 100 times to understand the scope of the devastation.
Britain added 70 million pounds to its existing 64 million pounds in emergency aid, taking the total to about 210 million dollars.
“Grave challenges lie ahead as people in Pakistan begin to recover from the floods,” said Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, announcing the biggest single new offer of the meeting.
Clinton said the United States has already provided about 345 million dollars in assistance, through cash, emergency relief and rescue work by US forces usually operating in Pakistan to back up the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
She highlighted, however, that Pakistan must becoming more self-sufficient and raise more domestic money for reconstruction.
Clinton said the United States would help its ally “bring transparency, oversight and accountability to the reconstruction”.
Other major donors also pressed for more transparency to tackle rampant corruption in Pakistan.
“It is critical for the government to ensure full transparency of cash flow,” Tadamichi Yamamoto, Japan's special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, told the meeting.
Germany's Development Minister Dirk Niebel said Pakistan must be “realistic” and raise more of its own money to rebuild the country.
Qureshi vowed that “every dollar will be spent in the most efficient manner and the most transparent and accountable manner”.
He said economic reforms were being undertaken to raise more money from the Pakistani population to rebuild the country.
Surendrini Wijeyaratne, a policy advisor for Oxfam, said the aid community felt “let down” by the UN appeal, saying it was insufficient to cover Pakistan's needs and lamenting that donor countries often delay putting the money in the bank, thus preventing critical relief work from going ahead.

 

[alibhai]

ae te fir na karan aali gall hoi.

 

[Night_Hawk]

ae te fir na karan aali gall hoi.

te hoor ki

 

[gazoomartian]

Haarp -

WHat Holebrook meant by
World cannot pay for Pakistan flood disaster


that

World will not pick up the cost for Pakistan flood disaster


So stop HAARPing then

 

[kashnex]

This is great opportunity for us to understand our value in the eyes of the world. Recognize ourselves and work extremely hard to prove ourselves.
Right now we should have a very simple decision ..... JUST REVOKE OUR PARTNERSHIP IN THE WAR ON TERROR AND ASK THE NATO AND US FORCES TO GO BACK. There is no passage for your to pass from Pakistan.No facility is any further available for you to take. I honestly tell you people .... they will be come down to their knees to get support from Pakistan. Only one decision is made and Pakistan will start rising. People of Pakistan are looking for one savior and if any of our leading Politicians take a decision (in public office) this difference can be made and People will stand in his favor. I think this decision can be made by General Kiyani or Zardari. Mr. Gilani cannot make this decision because he has no guts at all.