The government of Guyana says it has donated US$30,000, equivalent to $6.1 million, to Pakistan to facilitate the provision of relief to the millions of people affected by severe flooding in that country.
The Foreign Ministry said in a release that President Bharrat Jagdeo in a message to President Asif Ali Zardari, sent on August 4, conveyed the sympathies of the government and people of Guyana to the people of Pakistan. President Jagdeo also took the opportunity to salute the people of Pakistan for their courage and resilience, while expressing hope that the responses of local authorities and the international community would help the country to rebound from the tragedy.
Already, more than 17 million Pakistanis, from the Chinese border in the north to the mouth of the Indus in the south, have been affected by the monsoon floods that began a month ago in the country’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.
To date, Pakistan’s unfolding tragedy has claimed 1,600 lives, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. That number is likely to rise as more drowned bodies are discovered in receding waters.
Many refugees have sought shelter at relief camps, where food and drinking water are now available. But every day there are new camp arrivals, people who were already poor, who now have nothing.
As the waters start to recede in the north of the country, the full extent of the damage has begun to emerge.
