WB, ADB to lead damage, needs assessment

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank and World Bank agreed on Wednesday to carry out a ‘Damage and Needs Assessment (DNA)’ of floods in the country in accordance with a request of the government.

“This is the fourth DNA that the ADB and WB are jointly conducting in Pakistan in close collaboration with the Economic Affairs Division, but this one is unique given the scale of devastation and geographical spread of the calamity,” said Rune Stroem, ADB’s country director for Pakistan.

If there is no fresh wave of flooding the data collection and its compilation may continue uninterrupted and the assessment is expected to be completed by mid-October.

“The World Bank has completed numerous DNAs worldwide in collaboration with other key financing and donor institutions such as the ADB and we will be bringing that experience to bear on this DNA, which is going to be a challenge considering the enormity of the disaster,” said Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank’s country director for Pakistan.

“The ADB and WB will collaborate with UN and other key donors through participation and sharing of information.”

According to a WB press release, the DNA focuses on estimating three types of costs: direct damage, indirect losses and reconstruction costs.

DNAs are generally conducted in the shortest possible time immediately after a natural disaster to provide the government and the international community with a credible assessment of the extent of the damage and an estimate of the cost to reconstruct and rehabilitate the damaged infrastructure and services.

Ratodero under threat after new breaches

LARKANA: In the wake of overflow and breaches in Khirthar canal, the district administration on Wednesday asked the residents of five areas near Ratodero town — Bossan, Fatehpur, Wasayo Bhutto, Pawaro and Ghulam Hussain Hakro — to move to safe places.

The breaches sparked panic in the town and some families had already left their homes.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said waters thrown up by the breaches had spread over an area covering about 2.5 square kilometres.

The torrents, however, posed threat no Ratodero and Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto because of their slow advance. He said the waters were flowing towards Garhi Khairo.

The floodwaters gushing from breaches in Jacobabad district were about 30km from Ratodero.

The chief minister took an aerial view of the area along with provincial ministers Agha Siraj Durrani, Ayaz Soomro, Jam Saifullah Dharejo and adviser Jameel Soomro before taking decisions about cuts to be made to divert floodwaters to save Ratodero and Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto.

The administration got down to building a four-kilometre-long embankment around Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.

The village is the resting place of former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. Heavy machinery was sent from Sukkur for the work.

The Ratodero-Jacobabad road was clogged with vehicles shifting residents to safe places.

Irrigation officials began diverting floodwaters towards Salar Shakh by cutting the road at two places.

Shafqat Wadho, the superintending engineer of Saifullah Magsi branch, said the waters would be released into Hammal lake through the RBOD-III and then the Main Nara Valley drain.

He said the flood protective embankment at the Zero Point of Hammal lake, near Ghaibidero in Qambar-Shahdadkot district, was incapable of withstanding the mounting pressure.

A breach in the RBOD-III also occurred near Jatak village, triggering a flow towards Warah taluka.

Qambar-Shahdadkot DCO Yaseen Shar said evacuation of vulnerable areas was under way and army helicopters had rescued over 150 people from Qubo Saeed Khan.

“Marooned people from adjoining areas have been converging on Qubo Saeed Khan so that they can be rescued by authorities,” Mr Yaseen said.

He said floodwaters around Shahdadkot had become stagnant and would take several days to recede. The DCO expressed fears that a fresh deluge expected from breaches in Khirthar canal at RD-52, near Mir Mohammed Brohi and Lakhapur villages, could create more problems.

The DCO said some families were returning to Shahdadkot against the authorities’ advice and the danger was not over.

Disaster management bodies accused of poor response

PESHAWAR: The members of Special Committee on Disaster Management of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly here on Wednesday came down hard on national and provincial disaster management authorities for their poor preparedness and response during the recent calamity.

Some of the participants also blamed the district administration, army and non governmental organisations for not handling the situation properly and mismanagement in the distribution of relief items.

The committee’s special session was convened to discuss post-disaster situation in the province and chalk out future line of action for rehabilitation and reconstruction in the flood-ravaged districts.

A member of the committee, Malik Qasim of MMA, staged walk out from the meeting. He accused the government of inequitable distribution of funds and corrupt practices.

Speaker Karamatullah Khan Chagharmati presided over the meeting while members of the committee, ministers, district coordination officers of all the 25 districts and senior officials of the line departments attended the session.

“Local administration and NGOs badly mismanaged relief activities, but politicians are insulted in the media,” said Minister for Irrigation Pervez Khattak, who also criticised the army for haphazard distribution of relief goods.

He said that district administration and army took credit for good work delivered in disaster while public representatives were defamed despite the fact that army received funds from the provincial government for rescue and relief activities.

He asked Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to establish its network at the union council level and involve teachers and revenue officers in relief operation. He said that PDMA did not need funds for networking and urged the authority to take the initiative.

MPA Mohammad Alam complained about lack of coordination between army and district government in Kohistan which he said was the worst affected area. He also said that military had sidelined local MPAs in relief operation.

“Army treats public representatives like ‘peons’ in Kohistan,” he lamented. MPA Mohammad Zamin Khan said that PDMA performance was nil during floods in Lower Dir district which resulted in death of innocent people. He said that massive encroachment along the riverbanks and water courses caused damage. He blamed irrigation department for not taking action against encroachers.

The lawmakers snubbed an official of the PDMA when he informed the committee that rescue operation in disaster was not the authority’s job. He said that district administration and army were responsible for conducting rescue operation.

The committee was informed that 24 out of total 25 districts had been affected by the worst disaster in the province. Ten districts had been declared severely affected. The calamity had affected tentatively 3.8 million population and efforts were underway to provided tents to homeless people.

It was informed that early recovery process including rehabilitation of livelihoods and basic facilities would be completed in eight months while long term plans comprising reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure would take three to four years.

Minister for Science and Technology Ayub Ashari informed the committee that people in Swat district were self-sufficient in food so the government and NGOs should stop further supply of edible commodities.

He stressed the need for repairing main bridge linking Matta and Kabal with Mingora city, because it was vital for the local population. He also proposed repairing of irrigation system.

Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that handling disaster was responsibility of the National Disaster Management Authority, but it bitterly failed to tackle the situation. He said that head of the NDMA did not bother to visit the flood-affected areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that PDMA did not have resources to handle large scale disaster. Speaker Karamatullah Khan said that government should chalk out plan against encroachments along the riverbanks and beds.

He also said that government should release funds to the districts for repair of minor works to restore irrigation channels, water supply schemes and other minor schemes. A seven-member sub-committee was set up to monitor activities of the PDMA, relief operation and rehabilitation work.

Indian jailed 13 years in Australia for rape

MELBOURNE: An Indian man who raped a university student in Australia then tried to flee the country has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Victorian County Court Judge Marilyn Harbison ruled Wednesday that Harjot Hundal Singh must serve at least nine years before being eligible for parole.

The 27-year-old accosted the 19-year-old woman while she walked home from a train station in June 2009. He dragged her into his van, tied her hands and raped her, the court was told.

Singh was arrested at the airport a few days later with a one-way ticket to Dubai and a connecting flight to India.

He is expected to be deported at the end of his sentence. —AP

Eleven killed in suicide attack on police in Baghdad

BAGHDAD: A suicide attacker blew up his vehicle at a police post in northeast Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 38, an interior ministry official said.

The attack took place around 8:00 am local time in Qahira neighbourhood, the official said.

The police and army are often the target of attack by armed groups in Iraq. —AFP

Eight-nation joint boxing camp gets underway

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to play host to around 100 foreign pugilists as a joint boxing camp gets underway at the Pakistan Sports Complex in the capital on Wednesday.

While several countries were extended an invitation to attend the camp ahead of the Commonwealth Games, seven (Central Africa, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanada,Uganda, Kenya) confirmed their participation to the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF).

“Pugilists from eight countries including Pakistan will participate in the month-long joint training session,” PBF General Secretary Mohammad Akram Khan said.

A six-member team, including five boxers and one official, from Sri Lanka arrived on Tuesday.

“The Sri Lankan boxers arrived today (Tuesday), while Mauritian pugilists will arrive on Friday and the rest are expected to arrive next month,” he said.

Akram said this will be a good opportunity for Pakistani boxers to prepare for the upcoming Commonwealth Games as the joint training camp would help them put up a good show.

A total of 22 Pakistani boxers have been named to train at PSC during the camp but only 17 will be present for the first four days. Five Pakistani boxers are currently competing at the Combat Games in China and will join the camp upon their return.

Meanwhile, PBF President Doda Khan Bhutto welcomed the arrival of foreign boxers for the second time in the year, after their participation in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing Tournament earlier this year.

“Hosting a joint eight-nation training camp is a big achievement on part of the PBF and we are thankful to Pakistan Sports Board for extending cooperation and financial assistance for this camp, which will serve the overall cause of boxing in Pakistan,” he said.

Doda expressed hope that a successful international training camp will boost the country’s image as a safe destination for sportspersons.

“We will provide top security to all the foreign teams and the best arrangements are in place for training,” Doda added. —APP

Pakistan probables: Mir Waiz Khan (91+kg), Nisar Khan (75kg), Adnan Hussain (60kg), Qadir Khan (56kg), Haroon Shahid (52kg), Mohammad Waseem (49kg).

Reserves: Naimatullah (56kg), Arshad Hussain (60kg). Manager: Iqbal Hussain.

Sri Lankan team

Boxers: Tennakoon Mudiyanselage, Wanniarachchi, Jayathilakage, RT. Jayathi Lake, Suranga Mudannayake

Coach: Julio Sanlana

Taliban take comfort in US withdrawal plans: general

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama's July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan has given Taliban insurgents hope they can prevail in the war, the top US Marine said in blunt remarks on Tuesday.

But General James Conway said the insurgents will be disappointed when they find that no major withdrawal is on the horizon among US forces deployed in the Taliban heartland of southern Afghanistan.

“In some ways, we think right now it's probably giving our enemy sustenance,” Conway said of the July 2011 target date.

“We think that he may be saying to himself -- in fact we've intercepted communications that say, 'Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for so long.'” Conway's frank assessment is sure to fuel debate over Obama's war strategy and the July 2011 date, providing ammunition for Republican lawmakers who have blasted the deadline as showing a lack of resolve in the nearly nine-year-old war.

Obama's fellow Democrats in Congress and White House officials defend the deadline as a way of pushing Afghan leaders to act quickly to take charge of their security.

The US president faces growing public opposition to the war and calls from the left-wing of his own party for a quick troop pullout.

Conway said Taliban foot soldiers would likely suffer a blow to morale after July 2011 passes with no dramatic departure of American forces, “and come the fall we're still there hammering them like we have been.” The general, just back from a visit to Afghanistan, said government army and police forces in key southern provinces will not be ready to take over from foreign troops for at least “a few years,” and that he had told his Marines to brace for a long fight.

“I honestly think it will be a few years before conditions on the ground are such that turnover will be possible for us,” Conway told reporters, referring to Marines deployed in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.

Conway said some Afghan units “somewhere” might be able to assume the lead for security in 2011 but not in the south, the birthplace of the Taliban.

“And I think there's a mindset that needs to accompany that on the part of our Marines, that it may be a while,” he said.

He acknowledged that public support for the US mission was declining but warned of the risks of any early withdrawal.

“I sense our country is increasingly growing tired of the war,” he said.

Conway appealed for patience, citing a fellow commander's assessment that “we can either lose fast or win slow.” The last units of a surge of 30,000 reinforcements only arrived in Afghanistan this month, he said, with the US force now at nearly 100,000.

“We have the momentum. We have the initiative, but that's different from declaring that security conditions are changed dramatically in Helmand,” he said.

The general said the administration needed to do a better job of explaining the mission to Americans and the importance of preventing Al-Qaeda from regaining a foothold.

He also said the Kabul government's efforts to promote reconciliation with the insurgents could be a “game-changer” that would dramatically alter the conflict.

Conway spoke a day after the US general in charge of training Afghan forces played down prospects for a major transfer of security duties to the Afghans for at least another year.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has suggested any troop reduction after mid-2011 would be modest, but he has also held out the possibility of Afghan troops taking over security in some districts by the end of the year.

The White House said Tuesday that Obama still planned a review of the Afghan war in December, shaping strategy for the next year. – AFP