Pakistan to ask IMF to restructure loan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will ask the IMF to ease restrictions on a $10 billion loan in the face of the worst floods in the country's history, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

It quoted Pakistani officials as saying Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh would visit Washington next week to ask the International Monetary Fund to restructure the current loan, which was made in 2008, or consider new financing because the flooding means it cannot meet the loan's conditions.

The flooding has made more than 4 million homeless. An estimated eight million are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Even before the floods, there were strong doubts over Pakistan's ability to meet requirements under the current IMF loan. The floods, which have ravaged crops, are certain to cut economic growth.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in New York on Thursday that the government would “revisit” its budget and that officials would have to talk to the IMF, which made the emergency loan to help the country avert a balance of payments crisis.

The two sides are due to meet on Aug. 23 to review Pakistan's performance and the release of a sixth tranche of the loan. – Reuters

UN seen meeting aid goal for flood-hit Pakistan

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations appeared to have met its target of $460 million in immediate aid for flood-stricken Pakistan on Thursday after the US and other nations significantly upped their pledges.

The rush of promised help came after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, addressing a hastily called meeting of the General Assembly, urged governments and people to be even more generous than they were in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and this year's Haiti earthquake, because the floods were a bigger ''global disaster'' with the Pakistan government now saying more than 20 million people need shelter, food and clean water.

''This disaster is like few the world has ever seen,'' Ban told the meeting. ''It requires a response to match. Pakistan needs a flood of support.''

Before the meeting, he said, donors had given half the sum the UN appealed for to provide food, shelter and clean water to up to 8 million flood victims over the next three months. But Ban insisted all the money was needed now _ and much more will be needed later.

After listening to speeches by high-level representatives of some 20 countries, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he was assured that the $460 million goal ''is going to be easily met,'' including ''$100 million plus'' from Saudi Arabia.

Aid groups and UN officials had worried about a slow response to the flooding, theorising that donors who have spent heavily on a string of huge disasters in recent years are reluctant to open their wallets yet again.

Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, told reporters before the meeting that he believed that where the tsunami and Haiti catastrophes happened suddenly, ''for about 10 days people didn't realize that this wasn't just another flood.''

Earlier Thursday, after visiting flood areas with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, US Sen. John Kerry warned of extremists who might ''exploit the misery of others for political or ideological purpose, and so it is important for all of us to work overtime.''

Zardari spoke of militants who might take orphaned children ''and train them as the terrorists of tomorrow.''

Holbrooke said it's impossible to assess whether al-Qaida or others are taking advantage of the floods because ''we can't even get in there.''

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that her government, already the biggest donor, would contribute an additional $60 million, bringing its total to more than $150 million, and that about $92 million would go into the UN's relief coffers.

The European Union raised its pledge to more than $180 million. In addition, Britain said it would double its contribution to nearly $100 million, on top of $25 million in public donations, and Germany raised its aid to $32 million.

Holbrooke warned that ''many billions'' will eventually be needed to rebuild Pakistan. He challenged other countries, especially China, Pakistan's close ally, which was recently crowned as the world's second largest economy, to ''step up to the plate.''

China's intentions were expected to become clear when its representative addresses the second session of the meeting on Friday.

At a gathering before the UN meeting, Qureshi said the Chinese had increased their cash assistance, supplied relief goods and taken responsibility for providing food, water and shelter to some 27,000 people in an inaccessible area in the north, ''so if you put this all together, it's substantial.''

For the Obama administration, Pakistan is vital for stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan and enabling American troops to withdraw. Washington has already committed to spending $7.5 billion over the next five years in the country.

''I want the people of Pakistan to know: The United States will be with you through this crisis,'' Clinton said. ''We will be with you as you replant your fields and repair your roads. And we will be with you as you meet the long-term challenge to build a stronger nation and a better future for your families.''

The floods have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory _ an area larger than Italy or Arizona _ straining its civilian government as it also struggles against al-Qaida and Taliban violence.

Qureshi, the Pakistani foreign minister, said every 10th Pakistani ''has been rendered destitute,'' crops worth billions of dollars have been destroyed, and things are likely to worsen as monsoon rains continue.

He said Pakistan's army has made ''substantial'' gains against the terrorists, ''But the peace and relative calm achieved ... are still fragile and need to be consolidated.''

Famed Pakistani musician Salman Ahmad, who joined Holbrooke and others at the gathering before the UN meeting, stressed that 100 million of Pakistan's 175 million people are under 25 and ''feel abandoned by the world.''

They ''have two possible futures _ one of following their dreams, the other of being sucked into extremism,'' he said. – AP

PAF says Shahbaz airbase under its control

JACOBABAD: The Pakistan Air Force said on Thursday that the Shahbaz airbase was under its complete operational control and brushed aside reports that floodwaters had been diverted to save the base.

“There is no threat of flooding to the airbase because it is five feet above the ground level and the flow of water could have only touched the floors of the base in the worst case scenario,” Air Vice Marshal Arshad Quddus of the Southern Air Command told Dawn.

The PAF took media representatives from Islamabad to Jacobabad, Sibbi and Sukkur. The trip was arranged at a short notice apparently because of a statement made by a senior health ministry official in the Senate Committee on Health that relief operations in Jacobabad were not possible because the only airbase in the area was under the use of Americans.

Taking the media around the base, which appeared to be inhabited by Pakistani armed forces personnel, AVM Arshad spoke about the role the base was playing in relief operations.

He said: “An air bridge has been set up between the Shahbaz Airbase and other strategic airbases to supply a chain of relief goods, besides evacuating the stranded people in and around the areas of Jacobabad.”

He said that medical health assistance was continuously being provided to the affected people in the towns near the airbase.

“The Shahbaz Airbase is under complete operational control of the PAF. If you see any American let me know…. seeing is believing… there are no drones and no Americans,” he said.

He said that a few Americans were present at the airbase only to provide technical assistance to the air force which had recently acquired the upgraded F-16 fighter jets from Washington.

The AVM made it clear that the statement of the heath official was out of context.

He said: “I don’t know why a senior federal health ministry official commented over the airbase… I think he is not aware.”

The ripples created by reports about health official’s statements was also evident from the fact that the health ministry issued a clarification which said that “the domain of the Ministry of Health is restricted to a health response,” as it expressed gratitude to the PAF for designating an airbase for Jacobabad’s flood victims. The team was also taken to the Sibbi Airbase, which has been made operational after about 10 years.

AVM Asrhad said: “It was closed due to security concerns. But it is now being used to provide maximum relief services to the people in Balochistan on the direction of Air Chief Rao Qamar Suleman.”

While he was showing the journalists around, a C-130 plane landed at the airbase carrying 200 tons of relief goods.

“The relief goods will be provided to the people of Dera Allah Yar, Usta Mohammad and other adjoining areas from the Sibbi airbase” he said.

Punjab estimates Rs107bn flood losses

LAHORE: The Punjab government has estimated an initial loss of Rs107 billion caused by the floods, seeking around Rs25 billion from the federal government for immediate rescue and relief measures, and restoring the communication network.

Official sources informed Dawn on Thursday that as per initial estimates, the provincial government immediately needed Rs37.5 billion for these three tasks.

Since it lacked such amounts, it had requested the federal government to immediately provide it with Rs25 billion.

The province would be requiring, as per the initial estimates, another Rs67 billion for rehabilitating the areas and people direly affected by the floods especially in the river Indus.

“These are the initial estimates and the cost can rise because flood water is still affecting Muzaffargarh and adjoining places,” a senior official said.

The gravely affected places include Muzaffargarh, Qamar Mastani, Issa Khel, Daira Din Panah, Kot Addu, Jampur, Mithankot, Sinawan, Chachran Sharif and Rojhan.

As per initial estimates 3,000 villages, 8.2 million people, 5.23 million acres and crops over 3.5 million acres were affected by the floods. As many as 100 people were killed in the floods which also leveled 500,000 houses.

The floods have affected two types of people: one, those settled in the riverine areas and along the beds of the river Indus; two, settled in urban areas. Those living along the riverside have not been badly affected and they face temporary displacements, say the officials.

They can be rehabilitated by waiving their water cess, providing them with loans for the next crops and funds for reconstructing their houses, and grains for sustenance.

The urban areas have never seen such calamity. These areas included Rojhan, Kot Addu, Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur.

In Sindh, the floods mainly affected those settled in the riverine areas. And the main problem was being faced in the settled area of Ghauspur and those located across the river.

Officials said the people and infrastructure in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan suffered the most because of the driving rain and flash flooding.

“Settlements in the path of the river Indus and other rivers or nullahs have proved to be the main human fault,” an official said.

Edhi declines to join ‘commission’

HYDERABAD: World renowned social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi has refused to be part of the commission proposed by Nawaz Sharif, saying he can’t work with capitalists “if anyone wants to work for people in distress they should do it directly”.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to New Sabzi Mandi relief camp on Thursday, Mr Edhi said that he liked to work independently and advised the government to do its duty and he would continue to do his job individually.

He said that it was a vestige of British colonial rule to form a committee if one wanted to sit on an issue. The government had always complained of empty coffers and he just made an appeal for donations and they started pouring in, he said.

He said that he knew how to beg in the streets and on roads.

He said that it was deplorable that rulers of the country were going on foreign trips when millions had been displaced by the worst floods of the country.

He said that Nawaz Sharif had proposed that he be part of a commission but he refused because he could not work with capitalists. The commission should not be formed because it would be tantamount to ridiculing people, he said.

He said that he was not a politician and whenever he asked for help he got positive response and collected millions of rupees. Because of spiralling prices and political crisis people did not come forward for donations the way they did after 2005 earthquake, he said.

He said that he had been in Gilgit, Chitral and Balochistan for the last 90 days and now he had started visiting Sindh with his first visit to Sukkur.

US sets up new fund to help Pakistan

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Dawn on Thursday that the United States has set up a new fund for Pakistan’s flood victims, besides contributing $150 million more to relief efforts.

In an exclusive interview in her office, the top US diplomat also said that she understood that the Pakistani military had to divert its resources from the war on terror to attend to the flood victims and while it might hurt the war, it was necessary to do so.

“The Department of State has established the Pakistan Relief Fund for all Americans to join in this tremendous relief, recovery and reconstruction effort,” she said.

“The pictures we see coming out of Pakistan are painful images of human suffering at its worst. In surveying the lives and landscape affected by this disaster, we see brothers and sisters; mothers and fathers; daughters and sons,” she added.

“We see 20 million members of the human family in desperate need of help. This is a defining moment – not only for Pakistan, but for all of us,” she said. “And now is a time for our shared humanity to move us to help.”

Obviously moved and saddened by the suffering of the Pakistani flood victims, Secretary Clinton angrily rejected the suggestion that America was helping Pakistan to boost its image in a key allied nation in the war against terror.

“It is an unfortunate characterisation,” she said. “Americans have always been the most generous responder to natural disasters anywhere in the world.”

Addressing the American nation, the secretary said: “I call on you to do what you can. Every dollar makes a difference. $5 can buy 50 high energy bars providing much, needed nutrition; $10 can provide a child or mother with a blanket; and about $40 can buy material to shelter a family of four.”

She urged Americans to go to the Department of State’s Pakistan Relief Fund and send $20 through their mobile phones by texting the word FLOOD, F-L-O-O-D, to 27722.

“If we come together now, we can meet this challenge and ensure that future generations in Pakistan have a chance to have the bright future they deserve and fulfil their own God-given potential,” she said.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Secretary Clinton when asked if perceived or real corruption in Pakistan was preventing the international community from contributing generously to flood relief funds.

“The extent of this disaster is overwhelming, how you know how and where and when to deliver resources when the disaster is ongoing. It hasn’t stopped,” she said.

“Why the US makes corruption a big issue in Afghanistan and not in Pakistan?” she was asked.

“Corruption is a cancer that eats away the body politic, and unfortunately it diverts resources from where they were intended,” she said.

“I have been very straightforward in my visits to Pakistan and in my interviews in saying that we want to see the democratic government of Pakistan to do better, really deliver services to people.”

“So what would say to those in the media who portray corruption as a major reason for the world’s reluctance to help Pakistan?” she was asked.

“I would say save lives. Save property. Do what we can. Corruption, unfortunately, has been with us, is with us and always be with us. It must be attacked and it must be rooted out but I don’t think it does a service to the people who are suffering to have some diversionary side conversation about corruption,” she said.

“Let us get as much done and as quickly as possible. Let us be sure that the funds flow where they are intended to.”

Gilani-Nawaz idea finds few takers

ISLAMABAD: A new phase of reconciliation between the two main political parties of the country in the aftermath of floods did not last even a week.

Ignoring an agreement Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif had reached last week to set up an independent commission to oversee and monitor relief work and utilisation of aid, a high-level government meeting on Thursday decided to set up what is being described here as a ‘toothless’ National Oversight Disaster Management Council (NODMC) comprising representatives of the four provinces.

Although the two leaders had agreed to set up a commission comprising ‘men of integrity’ to ensure transparency in collection, management and distribution of flood relief funds, the proposed council will mere have the role of overseeing the funds.

The government said: “The NODMC will not only ensure transparency in utilisation of relief funds, it will also go ahead with implementation of the reformed general sales tax on October 1.”

The names proposed by the PML-N chief for the commission are not included in the NODMC.

The names mentioned by the two leaders in their press conference included those of Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid and Justice Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim.

The meeting decided a new formula for forming the council. “The provinces will name the members who could be nine to 13 and will be from the private sector. The council will be formed in a few days”, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told reporters after the meeting.

The decision led to a new round of recriminations between the two main parties. PML-N members told Dawn that Mr Sharif had called Prime Minister Gilani before the start of the NDMC meeting to protest against lack of progress on the promise made at the join news conference.

He was told by the prime minister that he had to take on board all stakeholders who did not agree to the idea.

Apparently this argument did not go down well with Mr Sharif who said he was present when the prime minister made telephone calls to ANP chief Asfandyar Wali and Farooq Sattar of the MQM before the press conference to get their approval.

No wonder then that the PML-N announced on Thursday its own committee — ‘Coordination Committee for Flood Relief’ — comprising two members from each province, Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK to evolve a mechanism to manage and distribute relief goods and ensure coordinated efforts for rehabilitation of the flood-affected people.

The meeting presided over by the prime minister was attended by the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, three services chiefs, governors and chief ministers of the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan CM, AJK prime minister and federal ministers.

The information minister claimed that Rs1.580 billion had been deposited in the prime minister’s relief fund. The amount, however, did not include donations given by various departments and those collected by embassies.

The meeting decided that as a preliminary relief, each flood-affected family would be given Rs20,000 from an amount of Rs40 billion to be pooled by the federal and provincial governments.

The damage and needs assessment would be carried out by the provinces while the World Bank and ADB would supervise and facilitate the process.