Pakistan flood survivors block highway in protest
CHARSADDA. August 5. KAZINFORM Several hundred victims of the devastating floods in Pakistan on Wednesday shut down one of the country's main motorways, in an angry protest against government relief efforts, Kazinform refers to Arab News.
About 200 to 300 people sealed off the motorway between Islamabad and the northwestern city of Peshawar for about 1.5 hours, blocking traffic in both directions at a point near the town of Charsadda.
They demanded that the government provide them with relief items and brandished sticks. The protest was later peacefully broken up by police after tailbacks reached as far as two kilometers (one mile).
"We are protesting because relief is not reaching the flood affected people. That's why we have blocked the motorway," Fazal Mohammad said. There has been a growing backlash against the civilian government and President Asif Ali Zardari over failures to provide food, water and sanitation to the 3.2 million people affected by the worst floods in living memory.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday that government ministers would each donate one month's salary toward helping the flood victims. The announcement came as Gilani chaired a special Cabinet meeting to review relief and rescue operations in the flood-hit areas.
"The Prime Minister's Flood Relief Fund-2010 has been established with the contribution of one month's salary by the members of the federal cabinet," a statement quoted Gilani as saying. He said that all the federal government officers had also donated one-day's salary.
Earlier in the day, the army also announced that all its personnel would each donate a day's salary to flood victims.
Record rains last week triggered floods and landslides that washed away entire villages and ruined farmland in northwest Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and central Punjab provinces.
Floods struck districts of Laiah, Muzaffargarh, and Dera Ghazi Khan and were nearing the Rajanpur district downstream on Wednesday, rescue and relief officials said.
Pakistanis facing life-threatening shortages scoured towns for belongings and food in several areas on Wednesday after floods killed 1,400 people and threw the spotlight on Zardari's fragile leadership.
It's too early to gauge the economic cost of the floods but they are likely to be staggering. Pakistan is heavily dependent on foreign aid and its civilian governments have a poor history of managing crises, leaving the powerful military to step in, Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.