Interview with Head of Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation UAE Mr. Muhammad Ali Zainal Al Bastaki

Mehmood-Ul-Hassan Khan

1. On going deadly super floods has a multiplier effect on macro-economy of Pakistan. Would you please tell us about your latest integrated relief operations/programs in the country?

Undoubtedly, Pakistan is passing through a severe natural catastrophe in shape of on going super floods which has created doom and gloom throughout the country. According to many reports of the government of Pakistan its macro-economy has already been compromised. Most recently, we have distributed five truks carrying food stuff, tents, mineral water bottles, and dates totaling 80 tones partly in Nowshera, Charsadda and Swat.

2. What is your personal assessment about the colossal losses of floods?

The devastation caused by recent floods has been unprecedented. Apart from the immediate losses of lives and public and private properties, the overall impact of the catastrophe may be enormous and far-reaching than can be currently estimated. Colossal super floods of the century has wrecked agriculture, livestock and ruined infrastructure. According to the latest report of the UN (August, 2010) the combined losses are greater than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. According to the government of Pakistan the most affected province is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

3. Right from the very beginning your foundation is active and engaged with diversified but integrated relief operations in the country? Would you share with us the nature of your ongoing relief operations?

We have been doing our levels best to eliminate the suffering of struggling people in the most affected areas in the country with the coordination and collaboration of Armed Forces of Pakistan under the supervision of United Arab Emirates Embassy, Islamabad.

4. If any other UAE organization is carrying out relief operations in the country?

For compliance of the directives by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation (KBZF), UAE’s Red Crescent authority (UAERCA), Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Foundation and the last not the least, UAE Military Relief Force started their diversified relief operations in different regions. These are still engaged and coordinating with the authorities to speed-up the relief operations in the different parts of the country.

5. How and when you started your relief operations in the country and what are your achievements?

His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE ordered urgent delivery of relief goods to shelter-less internally displaced people due to natural calamity of super floods that hit all the provinces of Pakistan and destroyed its major socio-economic fabric and the appeal of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Sayed Yousuf Raza Gillani,. In compliance with his directives, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation started its intensified humanitarian operations in Pakistan in different regions. We were among the first foreign aid agency/organization that responded on time for the help of floods affected people in the country and carried out our humanitarian and relief works in various regions.

Balochistan was the first place of our relief operation activities. Afterwards we moved to Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We launched our relief operations in the most affected areas of Swat, Peshawar, Nowshera and Ranjanpur. Now we are engaged in Southern Punjab and trying our levels best to help the wandering souls of hapless and hopeless massive population. The government of the UAE is still rushing urgent assistance and relief aircrafts up to date and pledged to continue sending humanitarian assistance in the coming period. We are committed that the relief operations will continue in an attempt to improve the living condition of the flood victims.

6. Would you please tell us the details of the humanitarian assistance to needy people?

We are tirelessly working under the supervision of UAE Embassy, Islamabad to reach out to most affected people in different regions. Keeping in view, the difficulties of the massive displaced population in these areas, we have been assiduously working for the betterment in providing life-saving assistance to them. By taking desperately needed food, mineral water bottles, medicines and sheltering material to the flood victims, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation’s contribution to the relief efforts is highly significant. More precisely, we are distributing tents, bags of wheat flour, bags of lentil, and the last not the least food packages to the affected people. We have also installed water purification plants in Rahim Yar Khan and its surrounding areas.

7. How you evaluate the quantum of this human miseries in these floods affected areas and what are your recommendations to help them?

While physically engaged with ongoing super floods disaster and rigorously interacted with the needy people on the ground, we observed that it has huge socio-economic multiplier effects. Livestock has been flash-out. Agriculture has been ruined and completely destroyed in many parts of the country. Cash crops have been wrecked in floods inflicted regions of the country. Orchards have been badly affected. Cultivation of vegetables has been smashed. Incidents of gastro, infectious and digestery diseases are increasing day by day. Moreover, Infrastructure has been wrecked and broken. Millions of people are homeless. But we are committed and working day and night to cope with the precarious situation.

We think that the terrific devastation of the floods ongoing in Pakistan urgently needs boosting international assistance to its recovery and rehabilitation so as to avoid recurrence of the destructive repercussions of this disaster.

We noticed that the most urgent requirement is to provide clean drinking water, food, shelter to the millions that have been left with virtually nothing. Tents, dry fruit, dry milk, beans, cloths, basic medical kits, biscuits, and canned food stuff hygienically are supposed to be better for the affected people.

8. What is the specification of your relief goods?

We are distributing tents, canned food stuff, dry fruit, grains, flour bags, clean drinking water and water cooler, water filtration plants, medicines, beans, dates and other related relief goods in the different areas of Punjab, i.e. Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Muzzfargar, and its nearby inflicted areas.

9. In terms of quantity how much of relief goods have already been distributed in different parts of the country?

So, far we have distributed 1000 tones of food stuff, 2000 tents, 20,000 liters of mineral waters in the different parts of the country.

10. What are your future relief programs?

We are going to distribute 20000 food packets, 120,000 liters of mineral water and 100,000 tents and more water purification plants along with supplies of medicines in the future.

11. Do you have any specific health care program in the future?

In order to manage the risks of any epidemic disease in these areas, a complete health care program will be initiated in the near future in these areas.

12. What is your message to common people of Pakistan?

Pakistan and UAE are brotherly connected and it is always heart-to-heart feelings between the two countries. We are and will be with you in your happiness and sorrows. UAE is committed to continue its humanitarian assistance to floods affected people.