KARACHI: Coordination cell set up at Governor’s House
KARACHI, Oct 9: On the directive of Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, a Coordination and Facilitation Cell has been set up at the Governor’s House to provide assistance in the collection and transportation of relief goods to the earthquake-hit areas of the country.
The Cell will function round-the-clock under the supervision of the Additional Secretary to the Governor, Aftab Khatri, who can be reached at 0333-2202712.
Besides ‘Helpline 136’ of the Governor’s House, the controller of the Governor’s House can be contacted for assistance at phone number 9201201.
Meanwhile, a Senior Member of the Board of Revenue, Syed Anwar Hyder, told APP on Sunday that a plane-load of relief goods was being sent immediately on the order of the Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim.
He said the consignment worth Rs15 million included 10,000 blankets and as many packets of edibles like atta, rice, tea, milk powder, pulses, salt and match boxes, besides a good quantity of vital medicines. The consignment was to be flown from a PAF Base into the quake-hit areas.
It may be mentioned here that the chief minister has already announced Rs50 million for relief work in the quake-hit areas of Islamabad, Punjab, NWFP, Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas.
MEDICAL TEAMS: As per the directive of Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, a 15-member medical team was being flown immediately into Islamabad on Sunday to provide instant medical relief to the quake victims in the affected areas.
The team includes neuro and orthopaedic surgeons and anaesthetists. The team, to be headed by Secretary Health Dr Naushad Shaikh, will also carry with it the required surgical equipment and medicines to perform operations.
PMA: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Karachi, will be sending a 15-member medical team to Mansehra on Monday. The team comprising doctors and paramedics would be carrying medicines worth Rs0.5 million with it.
The association has said that more medical teams would be dispatched to quake-hit areas soon. It has invited doctors and paramedics to come forward and join in the teams.
EDHI FOUNDATION: The Edhi Foundation on Sunday sent a plane-load of relief goods to Islamabad, according to a spokesman for the Foundation.
The consignment included medicines, warm clothes and other relief articles, and Mr Faisal Edhi was onboard the plane.
The spokesman said that teams of doctors had already been sent to Mansehra, Islamabad and other affected areas in Punjab, NWFP and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The teams have already set up camps in the areas and were providing medical assistance to the quake victims, the spokesman added.
RELIEF GOODS: Six truck-loads of edibles, blankets and tents arranged by the Al-Mustafa Welfare Society were to leave for Punjab on Sunday for distribution among the quake victims in the affected areas.
In-charge of the Al-Mustafa Blood Bank, along with a team of doctors and blood stock, has already left for Islamabad and Muzaffarabad, according to a statement issued by the organization which has set up camps at various places in Karachi to collect blood and relief goods.
RESCUE WORKERS: The Caretaker of the city government and DCO Karachi Fazlur Rehman, who is coordinating arrangements for quake relief in the city, has sent a 12-member team of rescue workers to Islamabad. The team, headed by Chief Fire Officer Syed Kazim Ali will carry out rescue work in quake-hit areas.
The DCO told APP that the team comprised best of the 40-member group of the perfectly trained workers raised by the city government.
The team, equipped with censor machines, would report to the Chairman CDA Kamran Lashari on its arrival in Islamabad.
The Sindh Minister for Industries, Adil Siddiqui, along with Federal Minister Babar Khan Ghouri, has already arrived in Islamabad with a team of 10 doctors.
PSO EMPLOYEES: Employees of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) have pledged that they would donate their two-day salary to the President’s Relief Fund For the Earthquake Victims-2005.
An announcement to this effect was made by the Managing Director and CEO of the company, Jalees Ahmed Siddiqui, on Sunday.
Expressing his sympathies with the quake victims, he said that the PSO would soon announce more contribution towards the relief and rehabilitation efforts, including dispatch of relief goods and provision of further assistance. — APP/PPI
