tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post3167246149496188264..comments2024-03-27T15:36:44.737-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: High Cost of Failure to Aid Pakistan Flood VictimsRiaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-67919540328238776072013-03-01T10:21:07.499-08:002013-03-01T10:21:07.499-08:00Here's a report on Pakistan climate change pol...Here's a <a href="http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/pakistan-launches-first-national-climate-change-policy" rel="nofollow">report</a> on Pakistan <a href="http://undp.org.pk/images/documents/National%20Climate%20Change%20Policy%20of%20Pakistan.pdf" rel="nofollow">climate change policy</a>:<br /><br /><i>Disaster-prone Pakistan has launched its first ever national policy on climate change, detailing how it plans to tackle the challenges posed by global warming, mitigate its risks and adapt key sectors of the country's economy to cope with its consequences.<br /><br />Pakistan is highly vulnerable to weather-related disasters such as cyclones, droughts, floods, landslides and avalanches. Devastating floods in 2010 disrupted the lives of 20 million people – many more than the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami – and cost $10 billion.<br /><br />The climate change policy, developed with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), recommends some 120 steps the country could take to slow down the impact of global warming, as well as adapt sectors such as energy, transport and agriculture.<br /><br />Measures include flood forecasting warning systems, local rainwater harvesting, developing new varieties of resilient crops, promoting renewable energy sources and more efficient public transport.<br /><br />"The National Climate Change policy takes into account risks and vulnerabilities of various development sectors with specific emphasis on water, food, energy and national security issues," said Rana Mohammad Farooq Saeed Khan, Minister for Climate Change at the launch of the policy is Islamabad on Tuesday.<br /><br />But the policy needs a concrete action plan to back it up, with details, budgets and timelines first, some newspaper commentators said, adding that only then could there be a chance of effective implementation.<br /><br />Questions have also arisen about where the money to fund implementation will come from and whether Pakistan's provinces have the capacity and expertise to put it in place.<br /><br />Last year, a major U.N. report said the world needed to prepare better to deal with extreme weather and rising seas caused by climate change, in order to save lives and limit deepening economic losses.<br />UNDP's Pakistan Director Marc-André Franche said addressing changing weather patterns would help the country's economic development.<br /><br />"Pakistan is among the most vulnerable countries facing climate risks and mechanisms need to be devised for greener, more resilient options for growth and sustainable development, said Franche at the launch.<br /><br />"I hope the policy will help key stakeholders in identifying capacities and skills for the successful implementation of the policy," he added.</i><br /><br />http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/pakistan-launches-first-national-climate-change-policy<br /><br />http://undp.org.pk/images/documents/National%20Climate%20Change%20Policy%20of%20Pakistan.pdfRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-3376471429282317412011-04-18T18:29:59.089-07:002011-04-18T18:29:59.089-07:00Here's an IRIN story of a family in Muzaffarga...Here's an <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92414" rel="nofollow">IRIN story</a> of a family in Muzaffargarh struggling to recover after the floods in 2010:<br /><br /><i>MUZAFFARGARH, 8 April 2011 (IRIN) - Eight months after floods forced Saleemullah Adeel and his family to abandon their home in Pakistan’s southern Punjab city of Muzaffargarh, the road to recovery has proved rough for this landless farmer.<br /><br />The wheat he planted on 10 acres (four hectares) leased from a large landowner at an annual fee of US$118 per acre (0.4 hectares) is doing well, and Saleemullah hopes for a good crop because weather conditions so far have been good. Near his house, which is now partially repaired, there are neat rows of vegetables, and a few hens feed in the yard. But he has little else to be happy about.<br /><br />“I bought wheat seed and fertilizer after selling the jewellery we had purchased for my elder daughter’s wedding, which was scheduled for this month,” Saleemullah told IRIN. “Now it has been postponed [yet] I have used up all my savings and my two sons, who worked on fish farms, have lost their jobs.”<br /><br />The July-September 2010 floods destroyed hundreds of fish farms in the Muzaffargarh area, according to media reports, leaving many, like Saleemullah’s sons, out of work.<br /><br />But Saleemullah’s problems do not end here. Since he did not own the land he farmed, he was not awarded compensation by the provincial government, which gave landowners seed and fertilizer. “The landlord we lease from claimed he needed [the seed and fertilizer] for his own lands,” he said.<br /><br />Cotton crop destroyed<br /><br />Other people, too, have suffered. “I have earned nothing for months because the cotton crop was destroyed, and factories which crush the cotton seed to extract oil did not employ us this time as they usually do,” said Ahsan Akhtar, 30, whose wife was not hired this year as a cotton-picker.<br /><br />Across the country, people have continued to live with losses incurred during the floods, even as they attempt to recover, but this is proving tough. “My youngest child, aged six months, has had diarrhoea for nearly a month,” said Sanober Bibi, 25. “The health workers who used to visit early on after the floods no longer come, and the medicine given by the local midwife did him no good at all.” There is no clinic in their village.<br /><br />On 6 April Neva Khan, country director of the UK Charity Oxfam, pointed fingers at the government, telling reporters that a delay on the part of the government to provide a “reconstruction strategy” had resulted in delays in urgent rebuilding and recovery work. In some cases this had “barely started even eight months after the disaster”, he said.<br /><br />A government official refuted that claim. "The rehabilitation phase was started some months ago," Ahmed Kamal, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority, told IRIN. A Sindh government official, who preferred anonymity, said a "desperate lack of funds" was holding up recovery in the province, but "progress was slowly being made".</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-71014189004579337292011-02-22T17:53:01.023-08:002011-02-22T17:53:01.023-08:00Pakistan govt has distributed Rs 28.6 billion amon...Pakistan govt has distributed Rs 28.6 billion among flood victims, according to <a href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C02%5C20%5Cstory_20-2-2011_pg5_5" rel="nofollow">Daily Times</a>:<br /><br /><i>ISLAMABAD: Government of Pakistan has distributed Rs 28.6 billion among 1.483 million flood-affected families through NADRA’s Watan Card — each card has Rs 20000 cash assistance.<br /><br />Deputy Chairman NADRA, Tariq Malik stated this while briefing the UN delegation headed by Margareta Wahlstrom, Special representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction who visited NADRA Headquarters today for briefing on Flood Relief System.<br /><br />Tariq Malik while elaborating the overall progress said that in Punjab, 608,824 flood-hit families received Rs 11.96 billion while in Sindh 558,997 families received Rs 10.11 billion. In Baluchistan<br /><br />Rs 1.85 billion have been distributed among 102,945 families and Rs 3.8 billion were disbursed among 199,414 families in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said in AJK and Gilgit Baltistan<br /><br />Rs 188,450,000 distributed among 10,173 families and Rs 61,626,000 given to 3,263 families respectively.<br /><br />He said the selection of beneficiaries is one of the most contentious aspects of any post disaster cash transfer programs in various countries. “NADRA walked extra miles as our aim was to protect the most vulnerable among the flood victims like women household, widows, special persons and minorities,” he told.<br /><br />He told 120,081 Watan Cards were given to the households headed by women folks in the remotest areas of Pakistan — and 11,746 Watan Cards were given to minorities notified by the provinces.<br /><br />Emphasising on Grievances Redressal System, Tariq Malik explained that 3.2 million people visited Watan Card centers, 335,044 complaints were received and NADRA has verified that 167,063 were eligible of Watan Cards of which around 155,000 have been given Watan Cards.<br /><br />Fifty percent (50%) of the complaints were not genuine as these included people who already had received Watan Cards or their family member had received Watan Card. “We are not closing complaints redressal system, and would like to entertain all complaints on case to case basis,” he added.<br /><br />He urged the media, international donor agencies and NGOs to focus on facts and real data, not on anecdotes or stereotypes or politically motivated press reports aiming generalisation based on isolated incidents.<br /><br />Neva Khan, Country Director Oxfam, Madhavi Malagoda ARIYABANDU, Regional Programme Officer, UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction were among the members of delegation.</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-46153627036528563822011-02-03T09:49:32.861-08:002011-02-03T09:49:32.861-08:00Here are a couple of reports on flood recovery in ...Here are a couple of reports on flood recovery in Pakistan:<br /><br /><a href="http://usa.wfp.org/news-story/pakistan-6-months-food-aid-helps-power-flood-recovery" rel="nofollow">World Food Program Report</a>: "Six months after Pakistan was hit by devastating monsoon flooding, the recovery is at different stages in different parts of the country. In the north and central Pakistan, most families have been able to return to their homes, rebuild their houses, plant crops and take back their former lives.<br /><br />But in a few areas of the southern province of Sindh, many communities are still surrounded by floodwaters. Thousands of families in Balochistan, in the southwest, are also unable to return to their homes. Between the two provinces, some 600,000 flood victims are still living in temporary camps and for these people recovery seems some way off."<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-black-country-12353340" rel="nofollow">BBC Report</a>: " A village in Pakistan devastated by flooding has been renamed Midlands after a West Midlands charity raised money to help rebuild it.<br /><br />Walsall-based Midland International Aid Trust raised £113,000 to help the 20 million people thought to be affected by the monsoon floods last year.<br /><br />The village of Lal Pir, now named Midlands, had been cut off by water.<br /><br />Mohammed Aslam MBE, the trust's founder, has been visiting the country to oversee how the aid is spent.<br /><br />Mr Aslam, 71, originally from Kashmir, said he wanted to make sure every penny of aid went to the people living in the region.<br /><br />He said in August he could only reach Lal Pir by boat.<br /><br />Now all 36 homes which were destroyed have been rebuilt, at a cost of £2,000 each, after the charity provided the villagers with materials and tools. <br /><br />The floods struck the north of the country in August. At least 1,500 died in the deluge."Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-6467009073196203972011-01-25T19:48:11.635-08:002011-01-25T19:48:11.635-08:00Here are excerpts from a piece by Christine Fair o...Here are excerpts from a piece by Christine Fair on <a href="http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/18/what_pakistan_did_right" rel="nofollow">"What Pakistan Did Right"</a> in 2010 floods:<br /><br /><i>Arguably, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) is one of the most important reasons why the floods claimed relatively fewer lives than may have been expected, given the scale of the event. In January, I met with the Director General Arif Mahmood and his team in Islamabad. They walked me through, in painstakingly scientific detail, how their organization saved lives in 2010, as they had done before and as they will continue to do in the future. <br />-----------<br />Some six months have passed since the onset of the floods. Surprisingly, many of the predicted disasters did not happen. Pakistan did not have the predicted second wave of deaths in the camps for the millions of internally displaced persons. Astonishingly, none of the predicted epidemics (such as cholera) took place. Pakistan has even managed to stave off the expected food insecurity.<br />-----------------<br />Pakistan's National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), headed by Major General (Ret.) Nadeem Ahmed is part of the reason these catastrophes were prevented. The NDMA, along with the four Provincial Disaster Management Agencies, coordinated the massive effort to rescue flood victims, establish camps for internally displaced people, provide the victims with shelter, water and sanitation facilities, food and other logistical requirements. The NDMA coordinates with international donors and maintains a situation room where staff track calls and resolve problems. In a country that routinely sustains criticism for organizations that that underperform, NDMA excels. <br /><br />Some of the worst fears about lost crops have not materialized. While many of Pakistan's fields have not been properly prepared for planting this year, NDMA working with its domestic and international partners was able to provide seeds to many cultivators. In many cases, they simply flung the seed into the land once the water receded. Many of these efforts are resulting in bumper crops. This was not expected in September of 2010. To be sure, this is only the beginning and much more needs to be done. But measures of this type helped stave off some of the gravest outcomes expected. <br />----------------<br />There are still challenges. Complaints persist about corruption with the pre-paid ATM cards (Watan cards) distributed to IDPs. In Sindh, serious charges of corruption persist regarding the purchase of tents, blankets, medicines and food for the flood-affected people. Reports continue that food supplies are languishing in depots while IDPs go without in Sindh. Indeed, the IDP camp I visited in near the office of the District Coordination Officer for Dadu, was saddening. The residents and the camp administrator claimed that there had been no food distributed in a month.<br />-----------<br />Nonetheless, half a year after the floods devastated the country and after most of the media has left the story behind, 20 million Pakistanis still need help -- and they need help now. While Pakistan must expand its own tax net to contribute to the long-term costs of rebuilding its infrastructure and preparing for future disasters, the international community should also continue to support immediate needs such as winterization, food support and rehabilitation of the flood victims. </i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-49148078997103102452011-01-22T17:33:25.512-08:002011-01-22T17:33:25.512-08:00Pakistan's agriculture sector remained robust ...Pakistan's agriculture sector remained robust in spite of heavy flooding last year, according to <a href="http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/17/prices-stable.html" rel="nofollow">Dawn</a>:<br /><br /><i>ENCOURAGING news from export front, mainly about wheat, dominated trading on the Karachi wholesale markets last week where prices showed tendency to rise as some exporters covered their forward sales to meet their shipment deadlines.<br /><br />A major breakthrough on the wheat front was widely welcomed by commercial traders and exporters who hoped the exportable surplus would add to foreign exchange earnings, market sources said.<br /><br />But leaders of flour mills association opposed the official move fearing rise in flour prices in coming weeks. But the government was seized with the problem of disposing of the surplus of over a million tons well before the arrival of new crop, they said.<br /><br />“It is a good beginning on wheat export front,” said a commercial exporter. He said the “profit-margin is not attractive but new export outlets are being explored to dispose of future surplus.”<br /><br />With a loaded consignment of 27,000 tons of wheat for some African destination, a loader has already left, while another Bangladesh ship is on the port loading a consignment of 20,000 tons for Chittagong, exporters said.<br /><br />But the news from sugar front was not encouraging as price tussle between growers and mill owners continued after the later reduced the cane procurement price from Rs230 per maund to Rs210 without any reason. The growers in some areas had stopped supply of sugarcane to mills.<br /><br />However, sugar prices in retail and wholesale markets rose further high despite mills’ claim that supplies of new crop to commercial dealers are being made<br />regularly and prices should remain stable around previous levels.<br /><br />Much of the physical activity, meanwhile, remained confined to some essential counters where floor brokers reported pressure on supplies.<br /><br />Arrivals from upcountry markets remained steady, which, in turn, did not allow speculative increase in prices and most of the increases were orderly. Dealers said changes in prices were mostly orderly and did not reflect speculative rise on any counter amid two-way activity and higher ready off-take.<br /><br />The industrial sector showed two-way active trading as some commodities showed rise under the lead of guar seeds and cotton-based items because of a record rise in cotton prices owing to a short crop, they said.<br /><br />On essentials’ counters, including wheat and sugar, prices remained stable despite higher demands followed by reports of steady arrivals from upcountry market.<br /><br />Sugar prices remained stable early but rose later, although dealers reported a fairly large business at the unchanged rates in an apparent effort to sell it later at higher rates, they said.<br /><br />Rice exporters said the recent increase in global prices was expected to significantly add to export earnings of the private sector exporters. They said talks were going on with some importers and hopes of some deals were bright during the next couple of days.<br /><br />On the other hand, cotton prices showed wild either way movements amid alternate bouts of buying and selling but late in the week a sharp decline in New York cotton futures pushed them lower around Rs9,000 per muand, which spinners said were still higher than their export parity level for textiles.<br /></i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-19904247029373902962011-01-17T16:02:42.018-08:002011-01-17T16:02:42.018-08:00has the Flood relief reached the needy?
http://tri...has the Flood relief reached the needy?<br />http://tribune.com.pk/multimedia/videos/105038/<br />I hope our charity does not go in vain.aamsvadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01218691276037469931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-88151780958050776552011-01-16T17:32:40.518-08:002011-01-16T17:32:40.518-08:00Much of Haiti still looks like the earthquake stru...Much of Haiti still looks like the earthquake struck yesterday, according to the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347279/Haiti-The-architect-celebrity-minder--symbols-hell.html" rel="nofollow">Daily Mail</a>. Here's what happened with all of the aid and NGOs:<br /><br /><i>Many of them quickly ran into trouble - and then went to the UN for help. Often those without experience found the environment too tough to manage, so they became 'part of the caseload' and had to be shipped home. Harassed UN officials were forced to direct their energies towards rescuing those who were supposed to be helping.<br />This was an extreme example of a wider problem identified by Linda Polman, the author of The Crisis Caravan: What's Wrong With Humanitarian Aid.<br />She describes a new phenomenon flourishing in the market free-for-all of the aid sector which she calls MONGOs, or My Own NGOs. She cites cases of doctors who arrive on their own in countries such as Sierra Leone, inspired by the scenes of suffering they have watched on television, only to pull out when they run out of money.<br />Patients are abandoned with no aftercare, sometimes with infected post-operative wounds.<br />In the aftermath of the Asian tsunami in 2004, the UN tried to develop what is known as its 'cluster system' to co-ordinate the efforts of individual agencies. It has certainly resulted in some significant improvements, but in Haiti the system has been creaking at the seams.<br /><br />Imogen Wall says coordination there often comes down to 'hundreds of organisations, not all of whom speak English, meeting in a shack with a tin roof down by the airport . . . and then it starts raining', so no one can hear anything anyway. <br /><br />She says that at one stage the 'health cluster' included no fewer than 600 different NGOs. And the UN has no power at all to compel aid agencies to join the cluster system. In theory, NGOs have to register with the Haitian government, but in practice that does not always happen - not least because the government has itself been in such a mess since the earthquake. <br /><br />The result is a very patchy provision of assistance. The good camps work well. Actor Sean Penn, who has earned widespread admiration for his dedication to Haiti's cause, has established a well-run camp in the old Portau-Prince golf club; it has good security, professional camp manage-ment and an efficient water and sanitation system provided by Oxfam. But it is known as 'the VIP camp' because it is so atypical of the way most earthquake victims live.<br />On the outskirts of the desperately poor Cite Soleil district of Port-au-Prince I visited an informal camp that is home to 300 families. They receive a weekly delivery of water from a Norwegian NGO and they have access to just three latrines between them.<br />That is pretty much it. There is no real security, and in camps like this rape and violent crime are a constant threat. I asked a group of women at the camp water tank what they thought of the foreign aid agencies. 'We have no opinion,' said one woman, 'because we haven't had any aid.' <br /><br /><br />The Haiti experience has been an object lesson in the limits to what aid can achieve.</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-77912160219389270292010-11-03T22:22:25.244-07:002010-11-03T22:22:25.244-07:00Pakistan's Mother Teresa?
A tiny, frail lady ...Pakistan's Mother Teresa?<br /><br /><i>A tiny, frail lady - her silver grey hair tucked under a white head scarf with a red floral trim - stands defiantly at a relief camp she set up for minority people displaced by Pakistan's recent deadly flooding.<br /><br />Eighty-one-year-old German nun Ruth Pfau is surveying the needs of hundreds whose homes were washed away.<br /><br />Two months since they sought shelter in Hyderabad, on disused land by the side of a busy road, she and her team have provided them with tents, food, water, medicine and a school.<br /><br />"We need blankets," many of them shout at once. Then they complain the dry rations they received did not include sugar, milk, salt or chilli.<br /><br />For a split second Dr Pfau is taken aback and winces, before noting down their concerns.<br /><br />Her arrival has been a Godsend for them, the forgotten of the floods.<br />Immense stamina<br /><br />"We only go into these camps where, for some reason or other, nobody else is willing or able, or ever thought of helping them," Dr Pfau explained.<br /><br />She is one of the very few helping the flood-affected Hindu minority.<br /><br />Dr Pfau's service to Pakistan's most neglected began more than 50 years ago.<br /><br />She took on the country's leprosy problem, rescuing children holed up in caves and cattle pens for years as their disfiguring and suffering worsened, abandoned by distraught parents terrified they were contagious.<br /><br />She trained Pakistani doctors and attracted foreign donations, building leprosy clinics across the country.<br /><br />"Working with Dr Pfau is very, very difficult, because she has such immense stamina, that I don't think anyone can match," said Mervyn Lobo, the organisation's national co-ordinator, who has travelled with her for more than 11 years.<br /><br />Born in the German city of Leipzig in 1929, Ruth Pfau grew up fearing for her life as first Allied forces bombed her town during the Second World War, then Russian forces ran amok.<br /><br />She saw her younger brother die, was forced to steal wood and coal for heating food and risked her own life escaping East Germany. <br /><br />"If I give any sense to these years, it is a preparation to be ready to help others," she explained.<br /><br />After completing a medical degree and joining a French Roman Catholic Order, she decided to leave for India.<br /><br />But diverted to Pakistan while waiting for her visa in 1958, she was to stumble upon leprosy, a disease she had never heard of in a country she did not know existed.<br /><br />"Well if it doesn't hit you the first time, I don't think it will ever hit you," she recalled, after first seeing leprosy during a visit to a makeshift dispensary built on a disused graveyard in Karachi.<br /><br />"Actually the first patient who really made me decide was a young Pathan.<br /><br />"He must have been my age, I was at this time not yet 30, and he crawled on hands and feet into this dispensary, acting as if this was quite normal, as if someone has to crawl there through that slime and dirt on hands and feet, like a dog."</i><br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11666299Mayrajnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-25223524230272534032010-10-31T20:01:10.665-07:002010-10-31T20:01:10.665-07:00@ Pavan and Mayraj:
We all know the world media, ...@ Pavan and Mayraj:<br /><br />We all know the world media, and donors, have a very short attention spans, and Pakistani politicians do no care at all for their people.<br /> How unfortunate for the poor flood-hit Pakistanis who are terribly suffering.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-6707916493926611522010-10-31T20:00:24.349-07:002010-10-31T20:00:24.349-07:00After the initial coverage, everything is quiet. Z...After the initial coverage, everything is quiet. Zero coverage here. Indian airfields and railway stations could have used as major hubs to channel aid into Pakistan.Pavannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-38878963643688229762010-10-31T19:59:43.045-07:002010-10-31T19:59:43.045-07:00http://www.countercurrents.org/perera231010.htm
Se...http://www.countercurrents.org/perera231010.htm<br />Seven Million Without Shelter Months After Pakistan FloodsMayrajnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-40058191487720444482010-10-26T23:08:03.351-07:002010-10-26T23:08:03.351-07:00Here is the latest news from State Bank of Pakista...Here is the latest news from State Bank of Pakistan reported by <a href="http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/26-Oct-2010/Floodhit-economy-to-grow-between-23pc-in-201011" rel="nofollow">The Nation</a> newspaper:<br /><br /><i>KARACHI – In the backdrop of widespread losses caused by the unprecedented rains and devastating floods to the economy in the early months of current fiscal year, the State Bank of Pakistan has predicted that the real GDP growth would be in the range of 2 to 3 per cent in FY11 against the annual plan target of 4.5 per cent.<br />The SBP, in its Annual Report on the State of the Economy for the year 2009-10 released here on Monday, stated that the annual average inflation for FY11 is likely to remain between 13.5 to 14.5 per cent, up from both, the 9.5 per cent target and earlier SBP forecast of 11.0- 12.0 per cent for the year.<br />Moreover, the provisional SBP projections indicate that the current account deficit will likely to rise between 3-4 per cent while the fiscal deficit is anticipated to be in the vicinity of 5 to 6 per cent of GDP during FY11. In addition, it projected that workers’ remittances are likely to stay between $9.5 billion to $10.5 billion whereas exports and imports are likely to be between $20 billion to $21 billion and $34 billion to $35 billion, respectively in the entire course of ongoing fiscal year.<br />The Report pointed out that financing even the moderate increase in the current account deficit may prove stressful for the economy, with rising pressures on the country’s foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate.<br />The Report said, “Negative shocks stemming from the floods have further exposed the existing structural weaknesses in the economy. Addressing these will require improvements in macroeconomic discipline as well as continued reforms to improve the resilience of the economy. The required reforms include those to improve productivity, strengthen public institutions, improve economic governance, and build social safety nets to protect vulnerable segments of the population.”<br />The Report while referring an independent study, warned that the occurrence of poverty, which started to decline over the last decade, is expected to increase in the wake of the floods in the time to come.<br />According to the Report, the direct impact of the flood-related supply shock is likely to be limited. For example, the impact of flood/rain damages and shortages of minor crops are not expected to persist beyond 2 to 3 months as supply line improves and as fresh crops (e.g., vegetables) enter the market. Similarly, for some other products, any rise in domestic prices would be capped by low international prices.<br />It is important to note here that prices of dairy products were already continuing on a secular rise, even prior to the floods, due to sustained strong domestic and external demand. Livestock losses in the flood would exacerbate this rising trend, but only to a small extent.<br />It said that the extended persistence of double-digit inflation had already been a source of concern even ahead of the floods, particularly given the risk that an upward trend in food-commodity prices (e.g. wheat, edible oil, sugar, corn, etc.) could be compounded by any weakness in the exchange rate. Moreover, inflationary pressures were also expected to strengthen as a result of the recent 50 percent increase in government sector salaries, and anticipated rise in energy tariffs (as the government continued to reduce subsidies) and removal of GST exemptions to broaden the tax base.</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-36674855100083420752010-10-19T22:25:45.761-07:002010-10-19T22:25:45.761-07:00Here are some excerpts from Bloomberg-Businessweek...Here are some excerpts from <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-20/toyota-unilever-pakistan-say-floods-may-sap-growth.html" rel="nofollow">Bloomberg-Businessweek</a> on Pakistani companies prospects after floods: <br /><br /><i>Toyota Motor Corp. and Unilever affiliates in Pakistan said the worst floods in the nation’s history may sap growth and force production cuts as consumers struggle to cope with the destruction of crops and houses.<br /><br />“The economy is fragile,” Parvez Ghias, chief executive officer of Toyota-backed Indus Motor Co., Pakistan’s largest automaker by market value, said by phone yesterday from Karachi. “The prices of food and essentials have gone up significantly.”<br /><br />“The overall impact of the floods is going to be very serious for the economy,” said Nasim Beg, who helps manage $200 million at Karachi-based Arif Habib Investments Ltd. “In the long term, something like cement might look alright, but in the immediate term, I think everything will be under stress.”<br /><br /> “The damage is going to be significant,” said Muhammad Adil Ghani, plant operations head at Lahore-based Nishat Mills. “We have to reevaluate the forecast for the coming year.”<br /><br />One of the group’s power plants, in Punjab province, northern Pakistan, was closed for at least five days because of floods, he said. The company’s four textile factories around Karachi, Faisalabad and Lahore haven’t been directly affected.<br /><br />Nationwide car sales may fall as much as 25 percent this quarter because of the floods, said Indus Motor’s Ghias. The automaker, 38 percent owned by Toyota and an affiliate, may cut output in October because of the expected slowdown, he said. The company has enough orders to maintain its 200 cars-a-day production rate until then, he said.<br /><br /> Pakistan’s major cities and industrial areas, such as Karachi and Faisalabad, have escaped the flooding, which has limited damage at factories and may also curb the impact on earnings. Unilever’s local unit gets about 8 percent of revenue from the worst affected areas, CEO Malik said.<br /><br />“So far there hasn’t been a major impact on sales,” he said. A reduction in costs may offset any decline in revenue, safeguarding profit, he said.<br /><br />Mark Mobius, who oversees about $34 billion in developing- nation assets as executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management Ltd.’s emerging markets group, is also buying Pakistani shares in anticipation of a rebound from the floods. Local stocks’ valuations are “very, very attractive,” he said earlier this week.<br /><br />Unilever Pakistan has maintained production through steps including re-routing shipments of goods, Malik said. Nestle Pakistan Ltd., a unit of the world’s biggest food company, has continued operations at its factories, which are concentrated in Sheikhupura, Kabirwala and Islamabad.<br /><br />The full impact of the disaster on foodmakers will become clearer over the next week or so as they work through inventories of goods such as fruit pulp, used to make juices, said Syed Fakhar Ahmed, a spokesman for Nestle Pakistan.<br /><br /> Engro Foods’ milk tankers have been unable to reach areas of Sindh and Punjab provinces because of the floods, CEO Rehman said. Retail milk prices may eventually rise by as much as 4 rupees (5 cents) a liter, he said. In the short term, the effect on food prices has been mitigated by Ramadan, a month of fasting for Muslims that began on Aug. 11, he said.<br /><br />“After the people return and transportation resumes, the supply chain will recover but not completely,” Rehman said.<br /><br />The country will need to import 1 million head of livestock within five months to replenish stocks, according to the nation’s Meat Merchants Welfare Association. Livestock accounted for 11 percent of gross domestic product in the year ended June 30, according to the government’s economic survey.<br /><br />“Agriculture is a very significant part of the economy,” Indus Motors’ Ghias said. “If we’re going to see negative growth there, other sectors will be impacted.”</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-23926250304995087422010-10-15T09:13:27.318-07:002010-10-15T09:13:27.318-07:00The floods that swept across Pakistan since July c...The floods that swept across Pakistan since July caused an estimated $9.7 billion in damage to infrastructure, farms, homes, as well as other direct and indirect losses, the <a href="http://www.adb.org/Media/Articles/2010/13363-pakistan-flooding-assesments/ADB-WB-pakistan-assessment.pdf" rel="nofollow">Asian Development Bank</a> (ADB) and the World Bank said today.<br /><br />The estimate was presented in the Damage and Needs Assessment (DNA), a survey conducted nationwide by ADB and the World Bank to assess the extent of the flood damage. The concluded survey was earlier submitted to the Government of Pakistan and today made public at the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) meeting in Brussels, Belgium.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-4528425108078996992010-09-01T08:00:32.955-07:002010-09-01T08:00:32.955-07:00True. And we will continue with the idiocy of spen...True. And we will continue with the idiocy of spending over million dollars a day to keep a few brigades on the Siachen heights. PavanPavannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-84914021601038382812010-08-31T21:14:25.482-07:002010-08-31T21:14:25.482-07:00Pavan: "What would really help would be to op...Pavan: "What would really help would be to open rail and a few road routes from air bases close to the border like Thoise in the Shyok Valley which can take heavy transport aircraft, Jammu to Sialkot, Amritsar which is an international airport and Jodhpur."<br /><br />While I agree that your suggestion makes a lot sense, the deep distrust that exists between the two neighbors makes it highly unlikely.<br /><br />These are kinds of times when the value of cooperation and trust between India and Pakistan is highlighted.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-58713094949029310992010-08-31T21:08:54.688-07:002010-08-31T21:08:54.688-07:00Interesting though a bit academic. There was a new...Interesting though a bit academic. There was a news item yesterday that India has upped its aid from 5 to 25 million dollars. What would really help would be to open rail and a few road routes from air bases close to the border like Thoise in the Shyok Valley which can take heavy transport aircraft, Jammu to Sialkot, Amritsar which is an international airport and Jodhpur. Both Amritsar and Jodhpur have rail links into Pakistan. Chaklala air base is completely congested since all the international aircraft are landing there. Train loads of water, food and medicines can reach Punjab and Sind on a daily basis. This is the kind of effort required. A lot of the international and UN aid could be channeled through India. Just to give you an idea of the logistics, if 5 million people have to get one bottle of water a day, the daily tonnage is 5000 tons of water alone or 100 sorties of heavy transport aircraft. And this will be required for quite some time till water supply can be restored. PavanPavannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-87464764747565393242010-08-29T05:04:52.504-07:002010-08-29T05:04:52.504-07:00http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-l...http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/message-conveyed-to-delhi-indian-aid-should-come-through-un-980<br /><br />Pakistan considers india as an enemy state and does not want assistance. India must just keep quiet and leave pakistan to its own destiny as it want to right. <br /><br />India can usefully deploy the money for the benefit of india and not on a country which it considers as enemy at this point of time alsosatwa gunamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13279049833806205196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-57926854069853823082010-08-26T21:41:43.915-07:002010-08-26T21:41:43.915-07:00A wealthy Pakistani real estate developer has pled...A wealthy Pakistani real estate developer has pledged to help the flood victims in Pakistan in a massive way. Here's a report by UAE paper the <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100822/FOREIGN/708219908/0/FRONTPAGE" rel="nofollow">National</a>: <br /><br /><i>ISLAMABAD // Malik Riaz Hussain, a billionaire Pakistani developer, has responded to the misery of millions of his flood-stricken compatriots by pledging to spend 75 per cent of his fortune on rebuilding their lives.<br /><br />The extraordinary offer was made in a television interview in which he told how he had sent a letter before the floods to 100 of Pakistan’s most wealthy and powerful people asking them to pool money into a fund to repair homes, provide vocational training and extend microfinance loans to impoverished Pakistanis.<br /><br />Mr Hussain is the chairman of Bahria Town, a US$6 billion (Dh22bn) urban development enterprise that has built gated communities for a million people in the central cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi.<br /><br />Bahria Town has already responded to the current floods by vastly expanding a corporate social responsibility programme called dastarkhwan, or dining spread, to provide two meals a day to more than 150,000 flood refugees in inundated areas and free medical care at mobile hospitals.<br /><br />Its housing projects, unrivalled in Pakistan as models of highly desirable but affordable suburban living, have revolutionised Pakistan’s real-estate sector over the last decade by targeting the previously untapped middle class, rather than the rich.<br /><br />The huge popularity of the Bahria Town brand has made Mr Hussain, at the age of 62, one of a handful of Pakistanis believed to be billionaires in US dollar terms, although this cannot be verified as he has never released his tax records.<br /><br />A man of unremarkable origins, Mr Hussain espouses traditional family values, and has expressed them in the modern family-friendly suburbs he has built.<br /><br />Reproductions of famous landmarks, such as London’s Trafalgar Square, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, point to his aspirations for Pakistan, while beautiful mosques and Quranic calligraphy suggest that modernity is in harmony with Muslim beliefs.<br /></i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-80358967117814557942010-08-20T17:45:26.345-07:002010-08-20T17:45:26.345-07:00It is clear that Pakistan has the most incompetent...It is clear that Pakistan has the most incompetent and corrupt political leadership at the helm right now.<br /><br />However, the response from the Pakistani military and the people has been very good. Over 60,000 soldiers well equipped with transport planes, helicopters, hovercrafts, boats, trucks, etc have been running rescue and relief operations 24X7 for days now.<br /><br />A whole range of Pakistani non-profits and urban middle class individuals have been working hard to try and alleviate the suffering of their fellow citizens.<br /><br />We must acknowledge that this flooding is like no other in recent history...it's part of the accelerating climate change phenomenon that will require a robust world response to tackle it.<br /><br />Instead of treating as just another flooding disaster and start bickering, we must push the following actions:<br /><br />1. Boost rescue and relief efforts with international help to meet the current challenge in Pakistan.<br /><br />2. Start planning and funding the second and third phases of reconstruction and rehabilitation in Pakistan.<br /><br />3. Set up an international body with adequate funding under UN to prepare to address this and similar or more deadly deluges and droughts that are likely to afflict many more people around the world....crop failures, famines, etc.<br /><br />4. Get serious about new technologies to limit carbon emissions in both developing and developed nations, starting with the biggest carbon emitters in North America, Europe, China and India.<br /><br />The cost of failure to aid Pakistan and prepare for similar other coming disasters will be so high that the world can not afford it.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-46681634159061055362010-08-19T22:40:29.212-07:002010-08-19T22:40:29.212-07:00As the world recognizes the enormity of the flood ...As the world recognizes the enormity of the flood disaster in Pakistan, the donors are beginning to increase pledges. <br /><br />Here's today's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11033677" rel="nofollow">BBC report</a>: <br /><br /><i>Donors have pledged more money for flood-stricken Pakistan following appeals at an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly.<br /><br />Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he had been assured that the UN's target of $460m (£295m) goal would be "easily met".<br /><br />UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the emergency session that the floods were like "a slow-motion tsunami".<br /><br />The monsoon-triggered floods have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan.<br /><br />An estimated 20 million people are affected and experts say shelter, food and clean water are urgently needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.<br /><br />Before the meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, Mr Ban said not even half of the $460m target needed for initial relief had been raised, and the response remained slow.<br /><br />The US - already the biggest donor - announced it would contribute another $60m, bringing its total to more than $150m.<br /><br />Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said about $92m would go to the UN's appeal.<br /><br />The EU has also increased its pledge to more than $180m and the UK is nearly doubling its contribution to almost $100m.<br /><br />Germany has raised its aid to $32m and Mr Qureshi said Saudi Arabia was pledging more than $100m.<br /><br />China is expected to announce its donation during the second session of the UN meeting on Friday.<br /><br />"If you put this all together, it's substantial," said Mr Qureshi.<br /><br />Addressing the UN earlier, Mr Qureshi warned that unless his country received adequate assistance, hard-won gains in the government's war against insurgents could be undermined.<br /><br />Pakistan is a key ally in the US-led war against militants in neighbouring Afghanistan.<br /><br />Islamabad has assured Washington and its allies that troops fighting the insurgency in the north-west of the country have not been redeployed to the relief efforts.<br /><br />But correspondents say suffering and social chaos caused by the floods could play into the militants' hands.<br /><br />At least 1,500 people have died in the floods, which began in the north and have swept south towards the sea, destroying roads and bridges, flooding farmland and knocking out power stations.<br /><br />Tens of thousands of villages remain underwater.<br /><br />Aid agencies say there are signs that the crisis is growing worse, as new flood waters continue to surge south along the Indus river and more flood defences collapse, forcing people to flee their homes.</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-16012994249260929742010-08-19T16:39:25.508-07:002010-08-19T16:39:25.508-07:00Here's how Pakistani middle class is helping t...Here's how Pakistani middle class is helping the flood victims in Pakistan, according to <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0819/Pakistan-floods-How-new-networks-of-Pakistanis-are-mobilizing-to-help" rel="nofollow">Christian Science Monitor</a>:<br /><br /><i>Ain-ul-Ghazala, a local Pakistani doctor, says what motivated her to take matters into her own hands came down to what she saw on television. Images of immense misery and destruction brought about by the worst floods in Pakistan in recent memory unfolded before her eyes, and she says she couldn't sit still.<br /><br />She had noticed hundreds of tents setup on the streets of her hometown, where various groups sought funds and materials. But despite hearing repeated calls for more aid, tales of corruption deterred her from donating to the government or aid organizations, and she didn’t want to give her money to Islamist groups like Jamat-ud-Dawa.<br /><br />“No one trusts the government anymore, so I wanted to see the situation for myself and do what I could to help,” she explains. As the effects of the disaster wound into a third week, the gynecologist, who works at a private hospital owned by her husband, decided to set off to the flood-afflicted southern Punjab region along with her three adult daughters and one of their friends, also a female medical doctor.<br /><br />Over the course of two days, they distributed, tents and food, while the two doctors checked in on some 200 patients in Kot Addu, near Muzaffargarh. “There were a lot of people suffering," she says. On top of the health problems, "some didn’t have anything to wear - they were without any clothes,” she says. “We gave iron and calcium supplements to the pregnant women, and ended up seeing a few male patients, too.”<br />--------<br />According to Rasul Baksh Raees, head of social sciences at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, the reach and influence of civil society has grown as Pakistan’s middle classes have become more affluent, organized (thanks in no small part to the Internet age), and confident.<br /><br />In recent years, Pakistan’s civil society has made headlines for its activism. Indeed, students and middle-class professionals joined lawyers in a movement to restore the country’s popular Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was removed from office twice in recent years by former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf.<br /><br />Ms. Ali says she used Facebook to solicit contributions from relatives, friends, and friends of friends both at home and abroad. She raised some $2,300, transmitted either to her mother’s bank account or via Western Union transfers, to spend on "family packs" (food items, flour, cooking oils, sugar, lentils, and candles) for the victims of the flooding in Swat. Mr. Khurram and half-a-dozen friends, meanwhile, organized a couple of truckloads of meals and traveled to Swat to hand over supplies to the Army for distribution.<br /><br />The group was stranded for three days by landslides but then traveled to the village of Solgarah in Pakistan’s northwest to setup a Tandoor kitchen that would feed 50 families for 10 days.<br /><br />“Naturally we don’t have enough donations for everyone,” says Khurram. “So we tried to make sure the same families aren’t getting the same stuff again and again.”<br />----<br />The open-source platform was originally created in Kenya and called Ushahidi, Swahili for "testimony." It maps user reports of events sent via text message, e-mail, the Web and Twitter. Explains Mr. Chohan: “We believe the mobile [phone] is the best way to communicate with people in normal conditions as well as disasters. This was tried and tested in Kenya and Haiti. Why not put all this first line of reporting on mobiles in Pakistan?” With more than 90 million mobile phone users, he says, it has the potential to become the largest deployment of Ushahidi anywhere in the world.</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-20661441018264357992010-08-16T10:50:17.335-07:002010-08-16T10:50:17.335-07:00Riaz,
You make good points.
The issues and conce...Riaz,<br /><br />You make good points.<br /><br />The issues and concerns should be shared by the Government of India, as a concerned and humanitarian nation.<br /><br />This is a time for suspending the usual political rhetoric on both sides. Mr. Quereshi should keep his ego aside and accept Mr. Krishna's offer.<br /><br />And Mr. Singh should realize there is no gain in creating a further rift in relations. <br /><br />I also have a feeling that the Pak beauracracy/decision makers at the highest level have a heart of stone, on how to help flood victims, after all these are the poor people, not the elite.<br /><br />Indians must be taking a look at how their govt would react in such a flood crisis.<br /><br /><br />VijayAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-3703175380170620852010-08-15T13:11:35.905-07:002010-08-15T13:11:35.905-07:00http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100815/ap_on_re_as/as...http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100815/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_floods<br /><br />UN chief: Pakistan floods worst he has ever seen<br /><br />http://www.economist.com/node/16743369<br />Swamped, bruised and resentful<br /><br />http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727730.101-frozen-jet-stream-links-pakistan-floods-russian-fires.html<br /><br />Frozen jet stream links Pakistan floods, Russian fires<br /><br />http://www.economist.com/node/16799101?story_id=16799101&fsrc=scn/tw/te/rss/pe<br />How the heatwave in Russia is connected to floods in Pakistan<br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10958760<br />Will the Pakistan floods strike again?<br /><br />By the way, check this out:<br /><br />http://www.acadjournal.com/2001/V4/part6/p1/<br /><br />GOOD GOVERNNACE ISSUES AND THE MUSHARRAF REGIME: AN ANALYSIS<br />Terrifying monsoon floods add to a sea of other woes in Pakistan—and intensify pressure on the president<br />See also:<br /><br />http://www.economist.com/node/16743463<br />Violence in Indian Kashmir<br /><br />A cyclical problem<br />The bloody protests in Indian Kashmir get much bloodierMayrajnoreply@blogger.com