ISLAMABAD, 21 November 2005 — Pakistan needs heavy transport helicopters more than anything right now to take relief cargo to remote Himalayan heights for earthquake survivors, a source in the Defense Export Promotion Organization (DEPO) said yesterday.
Until now, Pakistan has been using Soviet-built MI-17 helicopters for this purpose. But the MI-17s, which Pakistan acquired from Ukraine in 1996, are too small to handle such operations and Islamabad was forced to borrow Chinooks and Blackhawks from NATO forces.
The Directorate General of Defense Procurement has initiated talks for buying bigger transport helicopters.
Although the number of Blackhawks and Chinooks that NATO lent Pakistan is very small, their swift operations have made things easier for relief workers and coordinators.
Yesterday, aid workers and quake victims welcomed weekend pledges of aid for Pakistan’s reconstruction, but warned that rebuilding must focus not only on bridges and schools, but on restoring livelihoods.
Teachers in the quake zone tried to boost spirits of children traumatized by the Oct. 8 disaster with an International Children’s Day party in a big tent, with balloons, cookies and a stage play. The quake struck just when classes had started, and about half the estimated 86,000 killed in Pakistan were children. “Our children are in shock,” said Shagmum Mir, principal of the Stars English School. “This kind of activity will help them ease that shock.”
The new loans and grants pledged Saturday by nearly 80 nations and international agencies at a donors’ conference in Islamabad brought the total for reconstruction of Pakistan to $5.8 billion — more than it requested, though about two-thirds of it was in loans, not grants.
A UN agency warned yesterday that debris and waste left uncleared since last month could become toxic and pose serious health dangers.
The Oct. 8 quake flattened entire villages and large portions of cities, leaving “unprecedented large quantities of debris and waste” from collapsed buildings and landslides, a UN Environment Program official told a news conference.
“We have these tons and tons and tons of waste and debris lying about,” program Deputy Executive Director Shafqat Kakakhel said. “The waste that cannot be put to any good use needs to be managed properly, otherwise a lot of the waste can turn toxic, can degenerate into toxic material thereby posing serious challenges to health.”
Kakakhel also urged the Pakistani government to ensure forests are not pillaged to supply wood for reconstruction.
A joint study by Pakistan and the UN Environment Program on the quake’s environmental impact says that debris from shattered buildings as well as human and medical waste in the quake zone threaten to pollute the region’s streams.
Amin Aslam Khan, Pakistan’s minister of state for environment, said the government needed $22 million for the first 18 months to begin restoring the environment.
The tragedy, however, has brought Pakistan and its archrival India closer. At a joint news conference with India’s Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the two countries had agreed to continue talks to resolve all outstanding issues.
Ahamed, who represented India at the Donors’ Conference in Islamabad, said: “I held fruitful discussions with Prime Minister Aziz today. The purpose of our talks is to create a friendly atmosphere and continue our bilateral negotiations for the peaceful resolution of various issues outstanding between Pakistan and India.”
Aziz said both Pakistan and India would solve the dispute over Kashmir through peace talks
Meanwhile, an earthquake with an intensity of 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted the quake-hit areas of the North West Frontier Province at 11 a.m. No loss of life and property was reported.
— Additional input from agencies
