Food aid goes abegging

Relief goods for flood-affected people rot due to not being transported to the survivors.

GILGIT: Tons of relief goods meant for the flood-affected people in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) have been sitting in the G-B House in Islamabad for over a month and have started to rot, sources said on Sunday.

The relief goods donated in the first week of August have not been transported to the area due to the negligence of officials concerned.

Cooking oil, flour, sugar and other edible items are reported to be among the donated items. Insects are now said to have attacked them and according to a source, theft can also not be ruled out.

The rotting items have started to smell, making it difficult for people to stay in the G-B House. Local politicians can stay at the house at concessional rates.

In August, philanthropists and well-meaning individuals including an adviser to the Governor Mian Shafqat, had donated over 500 bags of flour, cooking oil and other items which were stored in the G-B house as a landslide had blocked roads to Gilgit.

According to sources, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Mehdi Shah had been informed of the problem and he had requested that the goods be sent to Gilgit via C-130.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, hundreds of C-130 sorties had flown into Gilgit-Baltistan since August, transporting relief goods and rescuing stranded people in the area.

However, food items at G-B House were not transported, resulting in the decay of perishable food that could have helped hundreds of families facing starvation in the wake of the floods.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2010.