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| October 31, 2005 | Monday | Ramzan 26, 1426 |
UN yet to receive adequate funds for victims: official
MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 30: A UN official on Sunday regretted that the world body had not received as much funds as it required to help earthquake victims in Pakistan.
“I regret that we did not receive the share of money that should have come to us to help the victims of the worst-ever natural disaster in this part of the world. But we have not lost hope,” Dr Hafeez Pasha, assistant secretary general and regional UNDP director for Asia Pacific, said at the Neelum Stadium here.
Answering reporters’ questions, he said the money available with the UN would last for some time but more funds were required on an urgent basis.
At the same time, he said, the funds were witnessing an increase on a daily basis and $11 million had been collected after the donors’ conference in Geneva earlier this week.
The UN has received $70.6 million in cash and $46.4 million in pledges for earthquake relief. That adds up to 20 per cent of the $550 million it says it needs for the next six months.
The Geneva conference drew an additional $580 million in pledges for victims of the Oct 8 quake, but those funds were not earmarked for the UN appeal.
Dr Pasha said that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would also visit Pakistan on Nov 17 and attend the International Donors Conference here.
Earlier, the UN assistant secretary general also met Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat and handed over two truckloads of tents for the people affected by the quake.
He told Mr Hayat that 12 more truckloads of tents would shortly be sent to Azad Kashmir.
“The UN has launched different projects for the rehabilitation of earthquake survivors and provision of 600,000 tents to the shelter-less people with a view to saving them from the looming winter and snowfall is among our top priorities,” an official handout quoted him as telling the prime minister.
Dr Pasha said a special scheme had been prepared for the affected people in the rural areas whereby they would be provided Rs25,000 and steel sheets to rebuild their houses. The debris in such areas would also be removed. Apart from it, efforts would be made to revive water channels and irrigation system in the rural areas, he added.
He also told the prime minister that around 4,000 tin-sheet temporary houses would be handed over to the AJK government in the coming weeks and this number would be enhanced to 20,000.
Dr Pasha said engineers from Nepal possessing expertise in shockproof constructions would be brought to Muzaffarabad to train local engineers and carpenters in building such houses in this region in future.
Dr Pasha also visited several parts of Muzaffarabad which has seen the worst damages as a result of the quake.
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