Corporate sector steps up flood relief

Mobilink, Meezan Bank, PIA, DHL, BMW Group and Cathay Pacific Airways contributed to flood relief.

KARACHI: Multinational and local corporations have stepped up relief efforts for flood victims in Pakistan.

Mobilink

A Mobilink spokesman said that efforts are being channeled through the Mobilink Foundation using the Rs85 million pledged exclusively for Flood Relief efforts.

In addition to this, Mobilink employees have generously contributed more than Rs6 million from their salaries and generated funds with the help of family and friends through collection points set up in 22 Mobilink offices across Pakistan.

Meezan Bank

Meezan Bank's employees have taken an initiative to contribute to the recovery and rehabilitation of the people affected by the floods by setting up a Flood Victims Relief Account where employees can deposit money.

An announcement on Thursday said that the Management of Meezan Bank has taken this initiative a step further by announcing its contribution of an additional Rs2 for every Rs1 contributed by the employees of MBL to this fund.

PIA

The PIA has airlifted 480,878 kgs of relief goods free of cost from Far East, Middle East, Europe, United Kingdom, USA and Canada and from Karachi to date.

This was announced by the spokesman of the PIA on Thursday. He said that the relief goods consisted of medicines including ORS, dry food rations, mineral water, water boat engines, new clothing, dry milk, tents and survival kits etc.

DHL

The express and logistics company DHL announced to deploy a team of logistics experts from its Disaster Response Team (DRT) to manage a temporary warehouse at Islamabad International Airport.

"The DRT will provide its services pro bono in close cooperation with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA)," said Chris Weeks, Director Humanitarian Affairs, Deutsche Post DHL at a press briefing.

He said incoming supplies from the United Nations Food Programme as well as contributions from governments worldwide, arriving through Islamabad International Airport would be handled by DHL's DRT via three to five relief flights per day.

BMW Group

The BMW Group has announced it will be donating AED 10,00,000 to one of the world's largest and most credible humanitarian organisations - Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), to help provide relief and support where it is needed quickly and effectively.

In addition to a corporate donation, BMW Group has set up an internal drive across its global employee network to help make it easy for them to make personal donations.

Cathay Pacific Airways

Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific Airways has airlifted 27 tones of relief goods from Hanoi and Saigon in Vietnam.

Moreover, staff from the Cathay Pacific office in Karachi and the airline's local agent in Pakistan have each contributed one-day salary to help flood victims in the country.

The airline is also running an appeal worldwide, with each dollar donated by staff in Cathay Pacific and its sister airline Dragon air is being matched by the company to further boost the relief effort.