Paucity of funds affecting flood relief efforts: Sherry Rehman

ISLAMABAD: Deploring that sufficient funds were not being provided by the wealthy nations to deal with the devastation caused by the recent floods, Federal Climate Change Minister Senator Sherry Rehman said relief efforts unsatisfactory due to a shortage of funds to save lives of flood-affected people.

“One thing is affecting every relief effort and that is the deficit of funds and goods. We have already repurposed all development and climate resilience funds towards relief but we urgently need more assistance from the international community for relief, as thousands are still in tents, while many still seek a cover over their heads”, Senator Sherry Rehman said while talking to newsmen at her office Wednesday.

Commenting on flooded areas of Sindh, Balochistan and Southern Punjab, she maintained that thousands are still seeking shelter and authorities are worried about people without proper shelters in the upcoming winter, saying that Pakistan needs much more to help 33 million people.

“Flood waters are still standing in large parts of Sindh where many areas are below sea level, while funds and resources to save lives and provide shelter are still in short supply. Immediate relief needs are swallowing up all available resources, and despite development partners stepping in like UN Secretary-General, the gap between existing and upcoming needs is huge”, she pointed out.

“Just the huge dewatering needs to pump out entire mini-oceans cannot be met at this scale, at least with the current water engineering resources available. Nobody ever expected or planned for this much water to bomb down from the sky, nor have we ever seen this quantum of flooding in any part of Pakistan ever before”, she added.

According to her, Pakistan’s economic system has sustained a huge exogenous shock and the authorities need urgent buffers from a debt overhang that is squeezing out fiscal options to rebuild almost half of the country, while climate resilience funds are also required that can be accessed with speed and scale.

“Right now, all climate funding is very slow to access, nor is it available for the kind of rebuilding needed. The relief funds pouring in right now from friendly countries are serving as band-aids, which are essential to cope, but certainly not enough for rebuilding or a sustainable future for the country”, she added.

Senator Rehman maintained that there is no immediate basket of accessible funds for climate resilient recovery, let alone disaster assistance. “Since both are triggered by climate impacts, the economic buffer for countries already in debt-stress should be appropriated and disbursed as climate funds that are easy to access, with predictable transfers. If Pakistan emits less than one per cent that causes the warming that triggers such shocks, why is assistance cast in a “disaster-aid or begging-bowl basket.” It should not. Not at all.”

Speaking on food insecurity, she said Pakistan is faced with the threat of food insecurity as the floods have drowned vast swathes of agricultural land and made the cost of food a prohibitive cost.

“Not only have we lost the crops that were to be harvested, but there are also serious concerns over how much land will be available for the upcoming planting (Rabi) season. Initial damage estimates indicate a loss of 74% of cultivable land in Sindh alone; totalling 3,410,743 acres. “The province, which is considered Pakistan’s bread basket, has lost 100% of its Cotton crop, 88% of Vegetables, and 66% of Rice to the floods. Nationally, over 4 million acres of agricultural land have been lost to the floods amounting to a financial loss of over 481 million Rupees”, she added.

“Climate impacts will surely impact the nature of crops, soil fertility, pest attacks, irrigation requirements and water availability. Before the floods, heat waves had caused a 5-10% decline in the country’s wheat yields. It is difficult to gauge the true extent of the damage because of the stagnating floodwater; the numbers from the initial estimates may increase as the water recedes and more accurate assessments can be carried out. As of right now, Pakistan remains in dire need of climate finance to help mitigate the impacts of the climate catastrophe that has made us the new ground zero of the climate crisis”, she added.

She deplored diseases that had virtually disappeared from the country, making a comeback while Cholera, Dengue, Malaria, Diarrhea, skin diseases and other water-borne diseases are breeding in the stagnant water.

“Emergence of Hepatitis-E for pregnant flood victims is another immediate worry. I am told by experts that if they don’t move to urban hospitals, a total of 42,000 among 128,000 pregnant women are expected to give birth in the flood-hit areas within the next three months. Right now, the crisis of access to roads is real, and at the same time, the flood waters are not receding”, she added.