Muslim countries, organizations and individuals have pledged nearly $1 billion in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation's history, said Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. The pledges came from Muslim states, non-governmental organizations, OIC institutions and telethons held in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, he said. “They have shown that they are one of the largest contributors of assistance both in kind and cash,” said Ihsanoglu of the various donors. He spoke during a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad. The Islamic Development Bank Board of Executive Directors Sunday decided to align a $1.2 million, which is part of a $11.2 million emergency relief and rehabilitation package for Pakistan, with the immediate relief needs. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani criticized donations made to foreign NGOs rather than the Pakistani government, saying much of the money would be wasted. “Eighty percent of the aid will not come to you directly,” said Gilani, referring to Pakistani citizens. “It will come through their NGOs, and they will eat half of it,” he said during a news conference in his hometown of Multan. The floods began in the mountainous northwest and have moved slowly down the country toward the coast in the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and damaging or destroying more than 1 million homes. Floodwaters surged into the southern town of Sujawal on Sunday after breaking through a levee on the Indus River two days earlier, said Hadi Baksh, a disaster management official in southern Sindh province. Most of the town's 250,000 residents had already fled, but the damage to homes, clinics and schools added to the widespread devastation across Pakistan. Authorities in Sujawal were trying to limit the damage, but the water level has already risen up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) in the center of town and 10 feet (3 meters) in the surrounding villages, said Anwarul Haq, the top official in Sujawal. The floodwaters also threatened Thatta, a historic city of some 350,000 people who have mostly fled to higher ground. Thatta is the base of operations for local authorities trying to cope with a disaster that has overwhelmed the Pakistani government and international partners who have stepped in to help. Authorities rushed to build makeshift levees across the road connecting Sujawal and Thatta, parts of which were already flooded, Baksh said. “We are trying to plug the bridges at three different points to stop the water flow toward Thatta,” said Baksh. “We are trying all our best efforts.” Thatta is located about 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi and 15 miles northwest of Sujawal.
