July 14, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 28, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 13: Non-governmental organisations engaged in relief activity in the cyclone- and flood-affected areas of Balochistan are reported to have stopped their work after the provincial government imposed stringent restrictions on their operations, aid workers told Dawn.

The NGOs have been asked to get no-objection certificates from the Frontier Constabulary to operate and send their relief material through government agencies.

Balochistan Home Secretary Chaudhry Tariq Ayub confirmed the restrictions and said the move was prompted by “sensitivities of certain districts”. Besides, he said, the NGOs needed to be regulated because “everyone cannot be allowed to go everywhere”. He said that focal points had been set up and the NGOs would be required to deliver assistance through them.

Aid worker Malick Shahbaz, who is associated with the Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), said: “The Frontier Constabulary communicated the message through District Police Officer Imran Mehmood to several NGO offices carrying out relief and rehabilitation work in Kech (Turbat).”

Other partner organisations of the SPO affected by the new order include national NGOs like the National Rural Support Programme, National Commission for Human Development and Trust for Voluntary Organisations.

The NGOs are engaged in relief and rehabilitation work in Kech (Turbat), Naseerabad, Khuzdar, Sibi, Jaffarbad, Noshki and Jhal Magsi districts, which were badly hit by the floods and cyclone, and are providing shelter, food and non-food assistance.

The government order warns the NGOs that in the event of non-compliance, police may take action against them and confiscate their supplies.

Tensions between NGOs and local authorities have been brewing up for a few days after some NGOs refused to accept government directives of routing their relief assistance through the National Disaster Management Authority.

An SPO official said: “We raised the issue with the National Disaster Management Authority in Islamabad a couple of days back but it seems that they are unable to address our concerns.”

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said: “In Balochistan, 2,000,000 people in 5,000 villages of 19 districts have been affected by flood and cyclone. About 100,000 people have been displaced.”

The UN agency believes that food and water would need to be required for two to three months, especially in Gwadar, Kech-Turbat and Kharan.