Fortune Cookies instead of Noodles
By Dr A. Khan
Chicago , IL
Pakistan ’s current flood crisis is the biggest disaster of the 21 st century to which the world has not adequately responded. Where is the humility and humanity of the global community? Have the people of conscience migrated to other planets? Is planet Earth becoming planet Mars? Where are all the humanitarians? Has political correctness become the norm of the times?
It is very surprising to see that China, now the second largest economy of the world, is offering not “noodles” but just a few “fortune cookies” in the form of flood relief. Perhaps the young Chinese leaders are not mindful of who served as the bridge to the West for them, or perhaps they are too busy catching too many “financial mice” following the advice of Deng Xiaoping ( it doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice).
According to satellite images released by NASA, more than one-fifth of Pakistan is under water. The UN estimates that more than 40 million people have become homeless. UNICEF data reveals that 6 million children were affected by floods and some 2.7 million are in need of immediate lifesaving assistance. Thousands of schools, majority of agricultural assets and transportation infrastructure, have been damaged and destroyed. Millions are living in total misery and could fall victim to post-flood epidemics.
All Pakistanis living abroad should take charge of the situation and donate money and collect relief goods for the flood victims. They should also raise awareness at local, national and international levels. All NGOs and aid agencies involved in the collection of funds for flood relief must ensure transparency in the distribution of relief supplies and funds. They should seek the services of a third party to do audits for maintaining financial transparency. They owe it to all donors.
In the relief and rehabilitation phase, the international donors can help by providing helicopters, food, medicines, agricultural tools and assets and shelter materials. And when this relief and rehabilitation phase is over the emphasis should be on the reconstruction of agricultural assets and transportation infrastructure. Construction of large dams and reservoirs all over Pakistan has become inevitable. There is a pressing need to develop new infrastructure for the growing population. International lenders should be asked to write off debt to provide relief for the reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure majority of which was constructed during the Raj. The international community ought to set up a fund for this purpose.
It is true that the occurrence of natural disasters cannot be predicted with certainty, but with proper planning and use of appropriate technological tools their impact can be minimized by providing advance warning to the masses so that they can move to safer places. In this regard the present government has failed miserably in providing warning and relief in the pre- and post-flood phases. While the country’s President was vacationing in Europe his government’s slow response in providing relief to millions of people has generated a tsunami of anger that may very well sweep him to his palaces overseas for a permanent vacation.
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