March 2006
US and Australia wind up quake operation
US and Australian military personnel helping with earthquake relief in Pakistan said farewell on Thursday after nearly six months of life-saving helicopter airlifts.
At a ceremony in a massive hangar at the Qasim Army Aviation Base in Rawalpindi, US and Pakistani officials exchanged gifts and compliments before the official end of the mission on Friday.
Against the backdrop of a giant US Chinook helicopter and an Australian Black Hawk, American ambassador Ryan C Crocker said the scale of the mercy mission following the October 8 earthquake was unprecedented.
Technorati Tags: earthquake, Rawalpindi, Chinook, Black HawkUK commits first £5 million to earthquake reconstruction
The UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) on Thursday committed the first £5 million (527 million Rs) of its support to earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation work.
The funds will be spent in the three key areas of Bridging, Health and Education. The education and health programmes will be managed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Speaking on the announcement of the funds, Dr Yusaf Samiullah, Head of DFID Pakistan said last November at the Donors conference in Islamabad the UK Government announced a grant of £70 million. Since then we have been working hard to ensure that this money will be spent where it is needed most. “I am delighted to be able to announce today that we are doing just that”, he said.
Technorati Tags: UK, DFID, earthquake, UNESCO, WHOUS Relief Efforts Winding Down in Quake Hit Areas of Pakistan
Two more Chinook helicopters departed from Pakistan as reconstruction efforts turn to land transport to deliver reconstruction materials, a US Embassy statement revealed.
Currently, six US CH-47 Chinooks are in Pakistan and will operate until March 31. At the beginning of relief efforts in October, up to 21 US helicopters were delivering supplies. As relief efforts progressed, the US matched the airlift capacity with humanitarian assistance requirements and reduced the number of helicopters to 12 through the winter months and the rainy season. With the arrival of spring, the build-up of supplies at distribution centres and with the reopening of roads to the affected areas, the US helicopters were no longer essential to relief operation.
Technorati Tags: Chinook, Pakistan, USQuake children to be vaccinated
All children leaving the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps will be vaccinated against infectious diseases. The vaccination will be carried out by female health workers, the Health Ministry announced on Tuesday at a meeting chaired by Mohammad Nasir Khan, the federal Health minister.
An increasing number of TB cases have been registered in the earthquake-affected areas and treatment was provided through the directly observed treatment short course (DOTs) programme. The meeting was informed that patients suffering from spinal injuries had been shifted from public hospitals to spinal injury units, while 97 patients had been admitted to the National Institute for Handicapped (NIH), seven to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), 33 to the PIMS Satellite Hospital and 91 were admitted to the Cantonment General Hospital (CGH).
Technorati Tags: IDP, TB, earthquakeAIOU announces fee rebate for quake-hit students
The Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), announced fee relaxation to the earthquake-affected students seeking admission in the Spring and Autumn semester 2006.
The students, at the time of admission have to submit a certificate bearing information about their permanent home address before March 31. Muhammad Rafiq, director at admissions AIOU, announced that the last date for the submission of admission forms for the Spring semester would be March 25. He said that the admission forms and prospectus could be obtained from the main campus of the university at Sector H-8, Islamabad and from all regional campuses and offices across the country. For Middle East countries, admission forms and prospectuses were available at Pakistani High Commission and embassies. The students can get more information about the university from the website: www. aiou.edu.pk.
Technorati Tags: AIOUIOM begins repatriation of earthquake refugees
IOM will coordinate with the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), and provide free transport to those who wish to return to their villages and towns in the earthquake affected areas from Monday.
IOM will initially supply over 150 trucks and jeeps, and coordinators say the programme will be expanded as the return process picks up speed. “It’s a huge task. Each family will need several trucks to take their tents and what remains of their personal belongings,” said IOM Regional Representative Hassan Adbel Moneim Mustafa.
“It will take months to finish, but we hope that an informed return process will encourage more people to return faster and help them restart their lives.”
Technorati Tags: IOM, Earthquake, ERRAUS troops to leave quake zone from March 21
American troops engaged in relief and reconstruction activities in Pakistan’s earthquake-hit areas will begin leaving on March 21.
Quoting US sources, Geo television reported that the withdrawal of American troops will conclude in a few weeks. More than 1,000 troops reportedly arrived in Pakistan after the October 8 earthquake. According to Geo TV, Gen Peter Pace, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, will visit Pakistan next week for talks on security issues.
The US has already handed over its field hospitals to the Pakistani government and the remaining will be handed over to non-government organisations, the channel said.
Technorati Tags: Pakistan, earthquakeQuake Funds for Housing: Next installment in April
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the distribution of the next instalment of funds for the reconstruction of houses damaged by the October 8 earthquake will start in the first week of April.
This decision was taken in a meeting of the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) chaired by the prime minister on Wednesday. “The government will also launch a scheme for cash grants of Rs 3,000 per month in April to vulnerable families,” an official statement said.
Technorati Tags: Shaukat Aziz, earthquake, ERRAReturn of quake survivors from tent villages begins
The Earthquake-affected people have started returning to their native areas from tent villages run by government and non-governmental organisations in different parts of the five affected districts of the NWFP.
Reports reaching from the quake-affected areas say people in camps at various localities were seen packing their belongings and heading towards their native villages in line with the NWFP government’s decision of closing all camps by March 31. The repatriation would be completed in three phases.
Over a hundred families, according to reports, left for their villages located on the hilltops on the first day of starting the process from a government camp in main Battagram.
Technorati Tags: Earthquake, NWFPMobile banks to function in quake-hit areas
The ministry of finance and commercial banks have agreed that mobile bank teams will operate in the designated earthquake affected areas so that affectees are ensured speedy disbursement of money, with which they can start reconstruction efforts.
No fee or charge would be realized from affectees for opening and operating accounts. The condition of maintaining minimum balance will also not apply to the accounts of earthquake affectees in AJK and the NWFP.
Technorati Tags: mobile bank, earthquake