Relief distributed among Pakistanis
A Saudi rescue teams prepare to deploy in the flooded village of Sajawal in Sindh province,southern Pakistan, on Monday. (AP)
A Saudi aid worker assists a displaced person in a relief camp in Pakistan. The Kingdom stepped up its aid efforts to flood-hit people of Pakistan. (AN photo)
Pakistani officials receive some of the food relief from Makkah for flood victims. (AN photo)
MAKKAH/ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia distributed 80 truckloads of relief supplies among Pakistans flood victims on Monday. The relief work was carried out on the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
An official statement said the trucks carried more than 700 tons of foodstuffs valued at SR2 million, including rice, flour, cooking oil, milk, beans and lentils, and were distributed in Punjab and Azad Kashmir. As many as 20,000 flood-hit families will benefit from the aid, the statement said. Each family will get 20 kgs of flour, 5 kgs of rice, 2 kgs of lentils, 2 kgs of beans, 5 liters of cooking oil and 2 kgs of powdered milk.
The relief program ordered by King Abdullah will send more supplies to the flood-affected areas every week, the statement said, adding that it will continue for three months. Well distribute a total of 1,000 truckloads of relief supplies among two million people.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom will continue airlifting relief supplies to Pakistans flood victims. On Wednesday and Friday, it will send two planes carrying 100 tons of dates and 100 tons of powdered milk.
Saudi Arabia has set up three camps to accommodate people displaced by the flood in coordination with the Pakistani government.
Earlier in the day, the Kingdom sent medical equipment for the second field hospital to be established in Pakistan. Maj. Gen. Kattab Al-Otaibi, director of medical services at the armed forces, said the second field hospital would have 100 beds, 22 doctors and 93 support staff.
The hospital has departments for ENT, maternity and children, bone surgery, ophthalmology, pediatrics and dermatology, Al-Otaibi said. The facilities of the hospital were transported on eight planes from King Faisal Airbase in Tabuk to Islamabad. In a related development, Saudi Civil Defense officers rescued 573 Pakistanis using boats on Sunday who were taken to safe areas. They also distributed relief supplies among 300 affected families. The civil defenses medical team provided health services to 150 people.
Maj. Abdullah Al-Harithy, spokesman of the Civil Defense team in Pakistan, said the team held daily meetings with their Pakistani counterparts to coordinate their activities for search and rescue operations.
Meanwhile, Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Aziz Al-Ghadeer said in Karachi that the Kingdom would send the biggest contingent of health care officials and medical units to assist Pakistan in relief activities in flood-hit areas.
Al-Ghadeer said 107 doctors and several medical units are already in Pakistan. He said the Kingdom has established mobile hospitals in Sindh and Punjab.
Saudi Arabia has quietly overtaken the United States as the single largest aid donor in real terms so far. Riyadhs commitment to helping the victims of Pakistans devastating floods has crossed $140 million.
The Saudi military and air force set up a back-to-back air bridge between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The air bridge continues to operate.
Relief distributed among Pakistanis - Arab News
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apparently prince Al Waleed visited Pakistan and pledged to help :
Alwaleed visits flood-hit regions of Pakistan
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, center, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, 2nd right, visit a relief camp in Muzaffargarh, Pakistan, on Sunday. (AN photo)
Prince Alwaleed, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, and his wife Princess Ameerah, present 10 tons of humanitarian aid from Alwaleed Foundation to Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani at the Islamabad International Airport. (AN photo)
By AZHAR MASOOD | ARAB NEWS
Published: Aug 30, 2010 00:46 Updated: Aug 30, 2010 00:46
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, assured Pakistan that the Kingdom will provide all possible assistance it needs for the relief and rehabilitation of thousands of flood victims.
He said the Kingdom had resolved to continue sending aid to flood-stricken Pakistan. "The Kingdom will spare no effort in supporting the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to cope with the damage from flooding," Alwaleed said.
Alwaleed who visited the flood-hit region, along with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, said, "The Kingdom stood with Pakistan during its worst natural calamity."
He was talking to reporters at Multan airport Sunday after visiting some of the worst affected areas of Punjab.
Alwaleed, who arrived in Islamabad, said two 100-bed hospitals donated by the Kingdom will be handed over to the governments of Punjab and Sindh.
Saudi medical team arrived in Islamabad on Thursday to establish two mobile field hospitals ordered by the Saudi government to assist victims of the devastating floods.
Earlier Gilani said the continuous flow of Saudi aid is commendable and helped mitigate the sufferings of flood victims.
Meanwhile, Pakistani troops and workers were on a "war footing" Sunday as they battled to save the southern city of Thatta after most of the population of 300,000 fled advancing floodwaters.
Torrential monsoon rains have triggered massive floods that have moved steadily from north to south over the past month, engulfing a fifth of the volatile country and affecting 17 million of its 167 million people.
Southern Sindh is the worst-affected province, with 19 of its 23 districts ravaged as floodwaters swell the raging Indus River to 40 times its usual volume.
One million people have been displaced over the past few days and hundreds of thousands have already fled Thatta alone ahead of the approaching ******** as soldiers work frantically to repair breached levees on the river.
"The water is still two kilometers away from Thatta where the armed forces and the local administrative workers are working on war footing to save the city," senior city official Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro told AFP on Sunday.
"The army brought a maximum of resources to try to fill up the breach. Almost all the people have left Thatta to safer places, all shops and schools are closed," he said.
Water levels were still rising in the district, but Kalhoro said: "We are hopeful that we can save at least Thatta city in two days."
An AFP reporter said the road linking Thatta with the town of Sujawal had been flooded and closed to all vehicular traffic, while Kalhoro said an electricity grid station near Sujawal had been flooded.
Alwaleed visits flood-hit regions of Pakistan - Arab News
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PISJ old students collect donations
Mohammad Shams-uz-Zaman, 3rd from right, member of PISOSAJ, with SBG volunteers. (AN photo)
By ARAB NEWS
Published: Aug 31, 2010 00:05 Updated: Aug 31, 2010 00:05
JEDDAH: The Old Students Association of Pakistan International School in Jeddah (PISOSAJ), along with the school administration, Saudi Binladin Group Engineers (SBG) and Pakistan Youth Alliance (PYA), has collected significant amounts of items from the community since Aug. 18.
The first shipment was sent on Aug. 29 to Edhi Center in Pakistan which is currently based in all flood-affected areas.
The alumnis president, Monawar Najmi, thanked the community but has also requested it to donate more dates, salt, powdered milk packs (both for infants and adults), digestive biscuits, peanut butter and mineral water.
Najmi, while thanking the tireless efforts of PISOSAJ members along with SBG and PYA volunteers, said that the community must ensure that all items donated are properly packed so that the volunteers work facilitated.
PISJ old students collect donations - Arab News
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2nd Saudi field hospital leaves for Pakistan (SPA) 20/9/1431H
