Two private organisations join hands to revive lives in Islampur

GTZ, SPC distributed agricultural inputs to farmers in the area that had fallen victim to the floods.

SWAT: Their lands inundated and their livelihoods destroyed, the farmers of the Islampur Union Council have appealed to the government to help them rebuild their lives. “We have been deserted by both the government and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” Fazal Khan, a local farmer, said.

The pleas of many farmers, living hand to mouth, were finally met when a German company GTZ, and The Swat Participatory Council (SPC) distributed agricultural inputs in the area to help revive their livelihoods.

Wazir Rahim, a farmer from the Bakara area in Islampur, told The Express Tribune, “We have been farming our lands since childhood, never have we seen a flood like this. This flood washed away our lands and our homes. We have been left with nothing and the government has ignored us. This is the first time that someone has helped us.”

Thanking the German government, Rahim said, “Our whole village is grateful to GTZ and SPC but our area needs more aid and we hope that they will extend more support to our area.”

Umar Khan, another farmer of the area told The Express Tribune, “I have 10 people in my family, but since the floods washed away our lands we are having a tough time making ends meet. The people of our area are cutting wood and selling it in the market to earn money. The government has given us nothing as yet, we are thankful to the Germans for helping us.”

However, locals say that the provision of agricultural inputs alone is not enough, more aid is needed for these people to get through this disaster. “We need the government and NGOs to restore our irrigation channels and reconstruct our dust passages, only once that is done can we resume our farming completely,” Khan said.

A German consultant for the Flood Rehabilitation project with GTZ told The Express Tribune, “No other organisation has worked in this area till now, so we distributed these agri-inputs on a need based system. The German government aims to revitalise the economy of the flood and war affected areas through the rehabilitation of roads, water channels, orchards and vegetable markets.”

Regarding the loss of houses due to the floods he said, “We are working in the Malakand Division and Dir to assess how much aid is needed. We will also construct 500 houses with complete facilities. Work on two model houses is ongoing and should be completed soon.”

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