RIYADH, 8 January 2005 — An Indian Embassy official has expressed disappointment with the lukewarm response of the Indian community to the Prime Ministers’ Relief Fund for the victims of the tsunami disaster.
He told Arab News that while the members of the community may have acted on their own or through some association in channeling funds for the disaster victims, that aid was not siphoned through the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
“There is a possibility that aid disbursed through private channels could be misused. We at the Indian Embassy are issuing proper receipts making the whole operation transparent.” His statement came in the wake of Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farook’s statement in Porayar (Pondicherry) during which he told the members of his constituency that Non-Resident Indians would soon contribute to the rehabilitation of the victims of tsunami disaster.
“The NRIs in Saudi Arabia are willing to contribute for massive rehabilitation process in the affected areas and they will hand over their contribution to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon. He said the people of Saudi Arabia and NRIs in the Kingdom were much pained to hear stories about the devastation caused by the killer tsunami.”
The official said NRIs should have acted spontaneously in coming to the rescue of their fellow Indians back home rather than waiting for a prod from the embassy. His reaction came in the wake of the fund-raising drive launched by the Sri Lankan Ambassador that netted SR300,000 in one night. Members of the Indian community have pitched in with a paltry fund of SR8,500 dashing the hopes of the ambassador.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan national Abdul Wahed Zaffry, former employee of Al-Khaleejiah Advertising and Public Relations Company, the sole advertising agency for Arab News, has become a victim of the tsunami disaster that struck Sri Lanka on Dec. 26. Speaking to Arab News on phone from Colombo, Abdul Wahed said his office, located close to the beach in the island’s capital, was damaged in the wake of the tsunami quake. “My travel agency was mainly dependent on tourists who have stopped coming to Colombo following the disaster. Now my business has collapsed as tourists are no longer coming,” he said, appealing to philanthropists for help.
