Pakistan does not need western aid, opposition leader claims
Pakistan's opposition leader has claimed that his country does not need Western aid and should stand on its own two feet as the UN chief called for the world to send money to the flood-hit region.
By Dean Nelson in Lahore
Published: 7:44PM BST 15 Aug 2010
Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif believes Pakistan does not need any Western help Photo: AP
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to young flood victims at a relief camp in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab province Photo: AP
Nawaz Sharif said his country had sufficient resources to rebuild millions of homes, buildings and bridges destroyed in the worst floods in 80 years.
He was speaking amid growing concern that the international community was not responding quickly enough with aid for more than 20 million people displaced by the floods.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, yesterday backed the appeal of Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistans prime minister, and President Asif Zardari for urgent assistance.
Im here to urge the world community to speed up their assistance to the Pakistani people, Mr Ban said as he visited the disaster zone for the first time.
But in an interview with The Daily Telegraph at his home in Lahore, Mr Sharif, the former Pakistan prime minister, said it was time for his country to take responsibility for the welfare of its people and to meet the costs of rebuilding swathes of Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from its own budget.
He has proposed a series of cuts in government spending to raise 2 billion to rebuild homes and infrastructure. If the government agrees, we have about $3 billion within our own resources, he said.
He was speaking amid growing fears in Pakistan that the international community would not give as much aid for flood relief as it did following the 2005 earthquake. Although the number of lives lost in the current floods is far fewer 80,000 died in the earthquake, and 1,600 in the flood so far the destruction and displacement of families now is greater.
Roads and bridges have been swept away and countless villages inundated. Agriculture has been hit hard with crops and stocks of grain destroyed. Six million people still need food, shelter, water and medicine, according to the UN, which has warned that the death toll could rise amid fears that disease could spread with survivors sleeping in makeshift tents.
Islamabad has said it needs billions of dollars to rebuild. The US has pledged $100 million, while Britain has earmarked 31 million. The UN has an appeal for just under 300 million significantly less than the $5.5 billion given in response to the 2005 earthquake appeal. Mr Sharif said suspicion that aid would not reach the victims was deterring both international organisations and Pakistanis from giving more.
Mr Sharif said if the fundraising effort was run by an independent commission and all party leaders worked together, Pakistan could generate enough money. If we dont follow this route, I can tell you there will be no rehabilitation of flood victims because people wont trust it, he said.
Pakistan's opposition leader has claimed that his country does not need Western aid and should stand on its own two feet as the UN chief called for the world to send money to the flood-hit region.
By Dean Nelson in Lahore
Published: 7:44PM BST 15 Aug 2010
Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif believes Pakistan does not need any Western help Photo: AP
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to young flood victims at a relief camp in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab province Photo: AP
Nawaz Sharif said his country had sufficient resources to rebuild millions of homes, buildings and bridges destroyed in the worst floods in 80 years.
He was speaking amid growing concern that the international community was not responding quickly enough with aid for more than 20 million people displaced by the floods.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, yesterday backed the appeal of Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistans prime minister, and President Asif Zardari for urgent assistance.
Im here to urge the world community to speed up their assistance to the Pakistani people, Mr Ban said as he visited the disaster zone for the first time.
But in an interview with The Daily Telegraph at his home in Lahore, Mr Sharif, the former Pakistan prime minister, said it was time for his country to take responsibility for the welfare of its people and to meet the costs of rebuilding swathes of Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from its own budget.
He has proposed a series of cuts in government spending to raise 2 billion to rebuild homes and infrastructure. If the government agrees, we have about $3 billion within our own resources, he said.
He was speaking amid growing fears in Pakistan that the international community would not give as much aid for flood relief as it did following the 2005 earthquake. Although the number of lives lost in the current floods is far fewer 80,000 died in the earthquake, and 1,600 in the flood so far the destruction and displacement of families now is greater.
Roads and bridges have been swept away and countless villages inundated. Agriculture has been hit hard with crops and stocks of grain destroyed. Six million people still need food, shelter, water and medicine, according to the UN, which has warned that the death toll could rise amid fears that disease could spread with survivors sleeping in makeshift tents.
Islamabad has said it needs billions of dollars to rebuild. The US has pledged $100 million, while Britain has earmarked 31 million. The UN has an appeal for just under 300 million significantly less than the $5.5 billion given in response to the 2005 earthquake appeal. Mr Sharif said suspicion that aid would not reach the victims was deterring both international organisations and Pakistanis from giving more.
Mr Sharif said if the fundraising effort was run by an independent commission and all party leaders worked together, Pakistan could generate enough money. If we dont follow this route, I can tell you there will be no rehabilitation of flood victims because people wont trust it, he said.
