October 15, 2005	Saturday	Ramzan 10, 1426

KARACHI, Oct 14: The Sindh Assembly expressed deep sorrow and grief over the colossal loss of precious lives and property caused by the recent earthquake in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the NWFP.

The assembly, which met after a break of 111 days with Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah in the chair, recommended the federal government that though relief had been announced, it was necessary to announce a package for the rehabilitation of destroyed areas within the shortest possible time.

This recommendation was made in a unanimous resolution adopted by the house on Friday. Over a dozen members from both sides of the house also read out their identical resolutions before the said resolution was adopted.

Movers of the resolutions from the Treasury side included leader of the House Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Syed Sardar Ahmad, Chaudhry Iftikhar, Dr Saeeda Malik, and Irfanullah Khan Marwat. While they were moved from the Opposition benches by leader of the Opposition Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Jam Mehtab, Hameedullah Khan, Humera Alwani and Nuzhat Pathan.

After the resolution was adopted, leader of the Opposition drew attention of the chair towards the tradition of allowing members to express their feelings on the subject.

Besides the chief minister, only two members, Syed Murad Ali Shah from the Opposition and Sardar Nadir Akmal Leghari from the Treasury benches, could express their views before the House was adjourned at 12 noon to meet again on Monday to continue the discussion.

Initiating discussion on the resolution, Chief Minister Dr Arbab Rahim recalled the devastation caused by the earthquake of Oct 8, which had stunned the nation. The people of Sindh were with their afflicted brethren, he said.

He said it was for the first time in the region that an earthquake of such severe intensity, magnitude and duration had occurred resulting in huge loss of life and property.

He said due to the inaccessible hilly areas, mounting difficulties were being faced in carrying out relief and rescue efforts, adding that the entire communication system and infrastructure had been destroyed.

In the hilly terrains of Azad Kashmir and the NWFP, where the only way to reach places in many cases were hilly tracks, these too had been destroyed by landslides. In the given situation, the only alternate way to reach them was helicopters, he said.

But, as these were not hurriedly available as to match the magnitude of the catastrophe, the rescue teams could not get access to them.

As a result, even after six days, there are areas where people are still buried under rubble, and where survivors are badly in need of food, medicines, and shelter from the severe cold weather.

Referring to the relief efforts, Arbab appreciated the exemplary spirit shown by the people of Sindh, particularly those of Karachi in the ongoing relief efforts including sending of volunteers and doctors’ teams. Even housewives had contributed beyond imagination, he said.

He said the amount of relief goods collected in Karachi was so huge that there was shortage of transport means for them.

So far, many goods trains had been sent and many sorties made, but goods were still piled up at relief camps, and arrangements were being made to send them.

He also mentioned the contribution of the Sindh government in the form of relief goods to the tune of Rs10 million to the NWFP and Rs20 million to the Azad Kashmir governments, and Rs10 million to the President Relief Fund.

He said it was without doubt that every effort was being made to reach the earthquake victims whose miseries had multiplied due to heavy rains followed by hailstorm and snowfall.

The chief minister said people had asked him what would happen if there was an earthquake of the same magnitude in Karachi. His reply to them was that no government in the world, no matter how powerful, could foresee such a situation and prepare to meet it.

Karachi was a city of flats and high-rises, he said, adding that it took more than a week to remove the rubble of a single building in case one collapsed. “We should, therefore, pray to Allah to keep us in His protection and save us from such calamities.”

He said that such tragedies used to occur rarely in the past, but they were now happening every now and then.

However, he said that the federal government was fully alive to the situation and had taken short- and long-term measures to cope with the situation and rehabilitate the earthquake victims.

Concluding his speech, he assured the affected families that the people of Sindh and the government were with them in these hours of need and grief.

Syed Murad Ali Shah of the PPP said the PPP and other opposition parties had not lagged behind anyone in relief efforts.

Now, the transportation of the relief goods and their distribution among the affected people was the government’s responsibility, he said.

He drew attention towards the non-existence of building laws for making it obligatory on builders to ensure the safety of people so that such tragedies could be averted.

He said Karachi had just recently recorded a mild earthquake of 4.4 on the Richter scale, which highlighted the urgency of such legislation and the need to prepare some disaster management plan.

He called on all to join hands for setting up a task force that would prepare a disaster management plan so that it could be submitted in the ongoing session for adoption.

Mr Shah regretted that despite Pakistan being a nuclear power, bodies were being recovered from rubble by foreign teams after three and four days, as we had no proper equipment for carrying out rescue work.

He proposed that the development funds of all MPAs, which totalled Rs840 million, should be given for the rehabilitation of he earthquake victims.

Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad, on the occasion, pointed out that a meeting was held at the Governor’s House on Thursday and a task force was set up for preparing a disaster management plan.

He said a disaster management authority would be set up on a permanent basis and assistance would be taken from all concerned technocrats and representatives of people including the Opposition, adding that the Sindh Assembly would make necessary legislation for the purpose.

The Irrigation Minister, Sardar Nadir Akmal Leghari, said the people of Pakistan had once again demonstrated that they were capable of meeting any challenge with courage. He said the contribution from urban centres to the relief operation was exemplary.

Paying tributes to Karachiites, he said the stock of relief goods piled up at the PAF museum would need over 50 sorties of a C-130 aircraft for transportation.

The present spirit of people rekindled the spirit of the 1965 war, he said, adding that it was high time that the same spirit should be maintained to rebuild a new Pakistan.

Earlier, soon after the House was called in order at around 10.40am, fateha was offered for the victims of the earthquake, those killed in the train accidents in Ghotki, and the pilgrims of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar who died in road accidents.

The House also offered fateha for the wife of leader of the Opposition Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, MPA Dr Ali Bin Hamid, poet Umeed Fazli, artist Jamshed Ansari, journalist Mehmoud Ali Asad, and scholar Shanul Haq Haqqui.

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