No negative impact on economy of Pakistan: PM
By Aziz Malik - PakistanTimes.net Federal Bureau Chief

ISLAMABAD: Massive devastation caused by the killer earthquake would have no major negative impact on Pakistan’s economy in the long-term as the industrial and agriculture areas have not been affected, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said.

“The quake may have a slight effect in the short-term but will not rock the economy in the long-term," he said in an interview.

The prime minister didn’t directly answer the question about the possibility of getting oil on deferred payments from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar but said Pakistan is getting assistance from friendly countries in different forms and shapes.

Operation Winter Race

Meanwhile, a report from Peshawar says that a new relief operation to reach out to quake survivors in inaccessible areas and isolated villages has been launched.

The plan, called ‘Operation Winter Race’, involves airlifting teams of International Organisation of Migration (IOM) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) into isolated villages to assess earthquake damage and deliver ‘shelter repair’ kits to homeless families.

Four five-member teams have been flown to remote valleys in helicopter operations coordinated by the UN Joint Logistics Cell (UNJLC) and UN Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS).

The IOM Pakistan chapter has said that the teams, which included both men and women, went house to house for two days in each location to identify vulnerable people. They then used satellite phones to call in helicopter airlifts of shelter repair kits for 65 families.

The project aims to expand to 20 teams to deliver 10,000 kits over the next 30 days at a rate of 350 kits a day. The IOM has asked partner agencies also providing emergency shelter in Pakistan to contribute materials and staff to achieve the target.

“Winter Race is about identifying vulnerable families in the most inaccessible areas and getting them the materials they need to survive the winter with improvised shelter as quickly as possible," says IOM senior emergency officer, Stephen Lennon.

Distribution Plans

Items in the locally procured repair kits, which will be stockpiled in forward bases at Muzaffarabad and Batgram, include zinc sheet roofing, plastic ground sheets, hammers, nails, spades, pickaxes, hand axes, saws, wire, buckets, and other items essential for salvaging the remains of houses and rebuilding habitable shelters.

The $350 repair kits will complement ongoing tent deliveries by IOM and other agencies in the race to deliver shelter to earthquake victims in high altitude villages before the first snowfalls which is expected shortly.

Yesterday, 20 MT of winter tents donated by the Netherlands and delivered by IOM to Kahuta in the remote Haveli region of Bagh, were airlifted by Chinook helicopter to a helipad on the 1,700 metres Haji Pir pass.

Homeless Bedhi valley villagers identified by the Pakistan army and IOM implementing partner, Islamic Relief, then carried the 200kg tents back to the valley, which is no longer accessible by road due to landslides.

A second 50 truck IOM convoy will move the remainder of the Dutch donation of 500 10-person arch tents, 500 heaters, 500 mattresses, 5,000 blankets and 120 stretchers from Chaklala airbase to Kahuta today, Monday.

Update

To date, IOM deliveries to Pakistan earthquake victims have included 4,150 tents, 36,000 blankets, 2,700 mattresses and 6,000 plastic sheets. It has also provided 316 trucks to partner agencies including Islamic Relief, World Vision, Unicef, Oxfam, Samaritan's Purse and JEN.

On Sunday, IOM also took delivery in Lahore of 20,000 tetanus vaccines donated through the Pakistani embassy in the Philippines. The vaccines, which have today been handed over to the Pakistan's Ministry of Health in Islamabad, will be used to immunise people in earthquake areas, where a number of people have already died from the disease.●