Islamabad: Muslim countries, organisations and individuals have pledged $1 billion (Dh3.67285) in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation's history, the head of a group of Islamic states said on Sunday.
The announcement came as floodwaters hit a large town in Pakistan and authorities struggled to build new levees with clay and stone to prevent one of the area's biggest cities from suffering the same fate.
Foreign countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help Pakistan cope with the floods, which first hit the country about a month ago after extremely heavy monsoon rains. But some officials have criticised the Muslim world for not contributing enough.
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the 57-member organisation of The Islamic Conference, sought to counter that criticism by announcing that Muslims have pledged nearly $1 billion. The pledges came from Muslim states, NGOs, 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 in cash," said Ihsanoglu of the various donors. He spoke during a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad.
Ihsanoglu did not provide a breakdown of the pledges or say how much of the money would go through the Pakistani government as opposed to independent organisations.
However, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has criticised the fact that the donations were made to foreign NGOs, rather than going to the Pakistani government, saying much of the money would be wasted
"Eighty per cent 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 press conference in his hometown of Multan.
The floods began in the mountainous northwest about a month ago and have moved slowly down the country towards the coast in the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and damaging or destroying more than one 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 the floods have caused across Pakistan.
Authorities in Sujawal were trying to limit the flood damage, but the water level has already risen up to five feet (1.5 metres) in the centre of town and 10 feet (three metres) in the surrounding villages.
The floodwaters have 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.