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| November 12, 2005 | Saturday | Shawwal 9, 1426 |
530,000 tons of wheat for affected areas
ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: The ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (MINFAL) is taking steps to provide relief to quake-affected people and assess their needs and damage they have suffered.
“The ministry has decided to release 530,000 tons of wheat to meet immediate requirements in the affected areas,” said MINFAL Secretary Mohammad Ismail Qureshi while speaking at a workshop on “Assessment review of post-earthquake situation: early recovery plan” here on Thursday.
The donation included 80,000 tons of wheat for Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 30,000 tons for the World Food Programme for urgent distribution, he added.
Mr Qureshi said releases from the earlier allocation of 300,000 and 120,000 tons of wheat to the NWFP and AJK governments had been expedited.
The two governments, he said, were advised to ensure urgent distribution of the food item to the most vulnerable populations.
Immediately after the quake, he said, the ministry organized a number of meetings of development partners with the two governments to facilitate the relief work and enhance coordination and interaction among the stakeholders.
The MINFAL secretary said as a result, the NWFP and AJK governments had been able to prepare an immediate plan to restore the economic cycle of the farming communities in the earthquake-affected areas.
The NWFP government was helping the farmers to plant wheat on 30,000 acres and the AJK government on 15,000 acres, he added.
He said the inputs such as seed and fertilizers had been supplied by MINFAL to the target areas so that the sowing could be completed by the end of this month.
Mr Qureshi said total loss and reconstruction costs for agriculture sector in the NWFP and the AJK had been assessed to be around $500 million or Rs30 billion, covering crops, livestock and irrigation spheres.
MALAYSIANS: A three-member delegation of the Al-Bokhari Foundation, Malaysia, led by Dr Syed Azmin, arrived on Thursday to participate in relief activities for earthquake victims.
A team of doctors, accompanying the Malaysian delegation, will provide necessary medical treatment to the quake-stricken people.
The Malaysian team later left for Batagram for distribution of blankets and edibles among the earthquake affected people of the NWFP.—APP/Online
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