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Well Over 5bn-Dollar Aid Needed, Donors to Assess Need - Pakistan Official

Posted on: Monday, 17 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

Text of report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency

Islamabad, 17 October: An international donors' conference has been convened in Geneva on 24 October to assess Pakistan's needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction in the quake-ravaged areas, a foreign office spokesperson said on Monday [17 October].

The UN-sponsored conference will look into the kind of funds Pakistan will need to rehabilitate and rebuild destructive areas spread over 28,000 km, including in Azad Kashmir and the NWFP.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said the requirement would go far beyond an initial assessment of 5bn dollars as the government was in touch both at the bilateral as well as multilateral level.

An internal meeting of the European Union next week was also to discuss Pakistan's reconstruction needs, she added.

She said the damage assessment of the quake-hit areas was not yet over but recalled a last week statement by the UN Under-Secretary General Jan Egeland, who estimated the loss to be in billions of dollars.

The spokesperson said the death toll confirmed was over 40,000 and likely to rise.

"There are areas from where evacuation has not taken place but we hope for the best", she said but feared the number will rise.

The spokesperson said that quake has destroyed infrastructure spread over 28,000 km with 3.5 to 4 million people displaced.

She appreciated the response by the international community to the disaster, which was prompt and impressive both in terms of rescue and relief.

The countries which contributed to rescue efforts include the UK, Turkey, China, Russia, Germany, France, Hungry, Japan, Iran, Poland, Netherlands, Jordan, Malaysia, Slovakia, Spain, Thailand, Singapore.

Those which were providing medical aid and relief goods include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China Cuba, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, India, Italy, Jordan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Syria, Spain, Sri Lanka, Norway, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, New Zealand, Turkey, Turkish Cyprus, UAE, UK and the US, Kuwait, Hungry, Iceland, Denmark, Qatar, Indonesia, Monaco, Nepal.

NATO and Saudi Arabia have established air bridges, bringing continuous supply of relief goods.

The spokesperson said that the United Nations have revised its flash appeal from an initial 272m to 312m dollars while international pledges was well over 500m dollars.

Appreciating the immediate response to rescue and relief efforts, the spokesperson hoped that the international community would be equally generous in contributing towards reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.

Responding to a question, the spokesperson said that the aid offer by India was open-ended and Pakistan deeply appreciated it. Pakistan did indicate its requirement to India and the assistance from that country was coming in, she added.

The spokesperson, to another question, said there was no specific offer from Israel for relief and that country's desire was conveyed to Pakistan through various resources.

She said, as stated by the country's leadership, anyone was free to contribute to the president's relief fund. Moreover, she added, being a member of the United Nations, Israel could also contribute to the flash appeal launched by the world body that was acceptable to Pakistan.

The International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) was heavily involved in relief efforts and would be there in the ensuing rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts and Pakistan would deeply appreciate contribution to ICRC by any country including Israel, she added.

Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

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