Relief activities on an extended break

ISLAMABAD: Flood relief activities that took a dive on Eidul Fitr were still down on Tuesday as many of the donation points in Rawalpindi and Islamabad did not resume their collection drives.

Kaleem Hussain, in-charge of Khubaib Foundation’s collection point at Murree Road, said that most people in Islamabad went home on Eid and the foundation did not see much use of keeping their camp open for donations. “Now that they are coming back we hope the relief activities will pick up again,” he added.

Mian Ramzan, who manages the collection point set up by Al-Khidmat Foundation in Melody Market in sector G-6, was of a similar opinion. “We got a lot of donations up until the last day of Ramazan, but people did not come on Saturday so we shut down [our camp].

“Now that they are coming back to the city, [we will open soon hoping] that the donations too will rack up again,” he said.

However not everyone shares this optimism.

The joint secretary of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the chief coordinator of their eight camps in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Colonel Younis Ali, said they did not expect the amount of donations
to go back to their pre-Eid levels.

He added, “Most of our aid now comes from foreign sources that we distribute directly to flood-hit areas. However we will continue to run these collection points.”

Hassan Ahmed, a resident of Rawalpindi, said, “These camps remind me that there is still much that needs to be done for these people. Without them [I feel that] public interest in the issue would fade away and the people would [eventually] just stop donating.”

Sabina Jalil, a resident of sector F-6, said, “We should not ignore the [flood victims]. The relief camps should continue operating.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2010.