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| October 18, 2005 | Tuesday | Ramzan 13, 1426 |
Karamat says US to send more choppers
WASHINGTON, Oct 17: The US government is sending 24 helicopters to Pakistan for relief operations in the earthquake-hit areas, ambassador Jehangir Karamat told Dawn on Monday.
President George W. Bush promised to send the helicopters when he spoke to President Pervez Musharraf on Oct 9.
“Four helicopters were sent immediately from Afghanistan and four more from the US Central Command,” said Mr Karamat. “Others will arrive there within days,” he said.
The eight US helicopters already in Pakistan are playing a major role in bringing relief goods to the affected area, the ambassador said. These are double-bladed Chinook helicopters, which are very effective in reaching difficult mountainous areas. Half of them were diverted from fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and are now dropping food and tents in Mansehra and Azad Kashmir.
Mr Karamat said the US also has sent a rapid response team and a 23-member contingency team to Pakistan that sent their assessment reports directly to Washington.
Besides helicopters, Pakistan also has requested the US to send as many tents as possible to shelter hundreds of thousands of victims forced to live in the open.
“They are sending three planeloads, one already sent on Sunday while two more are going with 15,000 tents each,” said Mr Karamat. “The US is also sending mobile hospitals, medicines and surgical equipment.”
The ambassador said that some US lawmakers are working on a resolution to seek temporary protected status for Pakistanis from the affected areas living in the US. Some of these people want to visit their homes but fear that they may become out of status if they leave the US.
The ambassador said the embassy is working with the community to send clothes collected in the US but urged the community to give cash rather than goods because it’s easy to send.
“Besides cash, blankets, tents and medicines are urgently required, not so much ordinary clothes,” said Mr Karamat, endorsing the appeal from some collectors not to send clothes of daily use because they are not required any longer.
Asked if the embassy also was seeking a long-term US involvement in the rehabilitation of quake victims and for the reconstruction of their properties, the ambassador said: “We just moved from rescue to relief operations but we are definitely aware of the need to rebuild what has been destroyed. Some people want to build hospitals, some want to build schools. We will take the community along as we move into the reconstruction phase. We are also seeking US support for this purpose.”
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