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| December 2, 2005 | Friday | Shawwal 29, 1426 |
UN warns Pakistan quake aid efforts on knife's edge ISLAMABAD, Dec 2 (AFP) Eight weeks after the South Asian earthquake, efforts to stop thousands of survivors dying during the bitter Himalayan winter were on a knife's edge, the United Nations said Friday. A UN official in charge of providing shelter, Darren Boisvert, warned that 90 percent of the 420,000 tents handed out were not ready for winter, although survivors were strengthening them with plastic sheets and blankets. "The situation remains very difficult and indeed we are on a knife's edge," the UN's emergency coordinator in Pakistan, Jan Vandemoortele, told a news conference. The three biggest priorities were to provide heating for freezing families; corrugated iron sheets so quake victims can build their own shelter, and winterised tents, Vandemoortele said. Emergency food stocks were being built up, but rations had been cut so they could last longer. Schools had restarted, but many were in tents where students had to battle against the cold, he added. Vandemoortele added "the worst enemies we face are not the mountains and not the winter, the worst enemies we face are complacency and pessimism."(Posted @ 15:18 PST)
Eight burned by tent fires in Pakistan quake zone MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Kashmir, Dec 2 (AFP) Eight people, two of them Turkish aid workers, have been hospitalised with serious burns after their tents caught fire in quake-ravaged Pakistan, health officials said Friday. Officials blamed the blazes on survivors of the October 8 disaster who had built fires too close to or inside temporary shelters, adding that they expected more such cases as the Himalayan winter intensifies. A World Health Organisation official in Muzaffarabad also confirmed there had been a number of burns cases. "There is no proper burns treatment in Muzaffarabad and the local health authorities are trying to set up one," the official said on condition of anonymity.(Posted @ 15:15 PST)
UK based NGO to start aerial relief operation in remote areas of NWFP, AJK ISLAMABAD, Dec 1 (APP): UK based Muslim Global Relief (MGR) organization would start airlifting relief materials to remote areas of NWFP and Azad Kashmir to protect quake victims from extreme cold and snowfall, Coordinator MGR Muhammad Naeem said Thursday. He said a consignment of relief goods from MGR UK is awaiting clearance at Karachi port and more shelter homes, special tents, jackets and dry food were in the pipeline. MGR has already sent 125 truck-loads of relief goods and has set up tent villages and hospitals in Bagh and other remote areas of AJK, he said.(Posted @ 09:48 PST)
'Relief process for quake-hit areas continuing' LAHORE, Dec 2 (APP): Punjab Minister for Agriculture, Arshad Khan Lodhi Thursday supervised the despatch of a consignment of 104 truck-loads of 13,485 tents for the earthquake victims and said relief goods worth about 2.5 billion rupees have so far been sent. The federal government had given to Punjab a target of 2,10,000 tents, out of which 1,98,598 tents have so far been sent and the target would be met with the despatch of the last consignment on Friday.(Posted @ 09:26 PST)
Days ahead to witness improvement in rehabilitation operation: Naseer Khan ISLAMABAD, Dec 2 (APP): Federal Relief Commission has so far distributed 557497 tents and 4.4 million blankets and quilts to the earthquake survivors in AJK and NWFP, Minister for Health, Naseer Khan, said Thursday. In a statement, he said the Commission has also provided 21,424 shelters and more than half a million tents to save them from snow and cold weather. He said that with the cooperation of NGOs, third phase for vaccination has been started in five earthquake affected districts of NWFP from Thursday to immunize people against the epidemics like typhoid, black cough, measles etc. Army has distributed 6000 Chinese tents in Alai valley while efforts to store ration in Alai, Kaghan and Saran valleys has been accelerated. He said EI-8 helicopters of United Nations airlifted 16 tonnes of food grain to affected areas by eight sorties while two flights of the Army Aviation airlifted relief goods to the affected areas of NWFP from Chaklala airbase. Also, Army shifted 33 trucks load of relief goods to affected areas from Mansehra and distributed 15659 kgs relief goods, 3343 tents, 5481 blankets and quilts in Balakot, Kaladhaka, Shangla, Battal and Battagram.(Posted @ 09:18 PST)
ICI Chief promises help in rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts RAWALPINDI, Dec 1 (APP): Waqar A Malik, President of ICI, paid a courtesy call on President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday and said that his company which has already contributed Rs 150 million to President's Relief Fund for Earthquake Victims would like to completely rebuild the Government college at Balakot, one of the hardest-hit areas.(Posted @ 09:08 PST)
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