Asking around: President reaches out to UN agencies, businessmen and bankers

The bankers have been asked to help growers and businessmen urged to check counterfeit drug use.

KARACHI:

According to President Asif Ali Zardari, the past two years of flooding and havoc have been a wake-up call.

He felt it was time that the country realised that the natural disasters take place because of climatic changes and a permanent solution needs to be found to combat them. On Friday, the president told a gathering of UN agencies and national and international experts at Bilawal House to devise plausible plans to counter the changes.

He stressed that food, shelter, water and sanitation, health and logistics have to be made priorities and he asked the agencies and donors to coordinate with the disaster management authority and relevant government departments on humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, state institutions, including the army and navy, have geared up to do their part and the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and Baitul Mal have also been told to provide money and assistance.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) distributed over 5,000 Pakistan Cards in Badin during the first two days and they are trying to speed up the process, said the president. He lauded the UN Secretary General’s urgent international appeal for humanitarian assistance during this time of international disaster and the resulting donor fatigue.

He pointed Badin and Thatta out as areas that need special attention as a large amount of stagnant water has accumulated. In order to remove this water, the president called on experts to figure out a way to divert the flood waters into natural storage reservoirs for use in the future.

“Pakistanis are a courageous and resilient people and have withstood all tribulations with hope and determination,” he said in an attempt to mollify the long suffering population.

Representatives from Unicef, WHO, FAO, UNHCR, USAID, WFP and UN Habitat were among those at the meeting. National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, provincial ministers, secretary general to the president Salman Farooqui and other government officials were also present.

Heads of banks

Later, the president met the heads of leading banks in order to discuss their organisations’ possible role in helping with the floods.

The president’s spokesperson, Farhatullah Babar, quoted him as saying “over 90% of the land in Sindh is owned by small farmers and the banks need to devise plans to provide them with financial relief”.

He asked the State Bank of Pakistan to work with commercial banks to put together a plan to help farmers who had “lost not only their standing crops but their capacity to grow in the future”.

Representatives of the State Bank of Pakistan, National Bank of Pakistan, Muslim Commercial Bank, Habib Bank Limited, Askari Bank, Soneri Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank al Habib were among those at the meeting.

Business community

The meeting with bankers was followed by a similar meeting with businessmen, traders and representatives of the chamber of commerce and industry.

Again, the president asked the businessmen and pharmaceutical companies to work together to stem the use of counterfeit drugs and pesticides in some flood-affected areas. Asking them for their support, he said that the bureaucracy could not handle this issue alone and needed the business community “who knew both the holes and how to plug them”.

The businessmen assured the president that they were behind him and would help with the rehabilitation process by providing material and financial assistance.

Governor Ishratul Ibad was present at the meeting, as were the heads and representatives of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Pakistan Business Council, Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Karachi Stock Exchange and a large number of prominent businessmen.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th,  2011.