Pakistan: Multi-party conference demands debt cancellation, launches mass movement to refuse debt

Flood devastations in Pakistan, developing scenario and The Communist Party of Pakistan .

Destructions brought upon the natural habitat and environment by the profit thirsty capitalist system ,has geared drastic changes ,ruining the weather and natural climate .

Industrial gases ,automobile pollutions and radiations from the atomic Nuclear tests are few examples ,which has destroyed the protective ozone layer . The Industrial and mega cities wastes have badly contaminated ocean’s and rivers habitat ,which unnatural conditions subsequently instigating catastrophic environmental problems and havocs .

Katrina , Tsunami and the monsoon lethal rains ,flooding have unleashed utter devastations and calamities upon the world over .

In the prevailing conditions of continuous lethal monsoon rains, has brought upon the people of Pakistan a calamity of Biblical proportions ,and the flood has not only turned above 20 millions of people homeless ,but has forced them to migrate to far away areas . The houses built in years ,with stocks of daily use and food items ,including live stocks are inundated in too-to by the savage flood across the length and width of the country .

In the prevailing circumstances of mass migrations ,the out breaks of endemics of water born diseases and other health psychological conditions to arose are much prevalent to follow soon . News falling of tens of deaths daily ,has begun.

Around 02 Millions of children are to be direct effectee and victims of this havoc .

Pakistan is basically an agricultural country , approximately 15 billions worth $ USD crops and agricultural land is lost to the flood ,where damage caused by rains is above it to calculate .

90 % of the under water canals system, the only fertile agriculture land of province Pukhtoonkhwa is devastated by flood ,where the green built of Balochistan ( under water canal system ) is completely ruined .

Crops in 17 districts of Punjab and 19 districts of Sindh , have completely destroyed ,where in Punjab and Sindh collectively in 15 additional districts crops and agricultural land is partially destroyed .

The damage to the infrastructures is yet to be estimated ,only in the province of Pukhtoonkhwa its estimated to be around 19 billions worth PKR ,to repair .

In light of the aforementioned circumstances , Pakistan has reached at the verge of socio-economic total breakdown . The food crises will cast hard scars to Pakistan . A very negligible share in the economy of Pakistan belong to industrial sector and that’s too pathetically due to IMF policies ,quite fast its many major units are closing down and subsequently production declines .

All these estimates and calculations are just primitive at this point ,where the monsoon rains to continue at least for a month long further, per the weather prognosis .

This situation has just to aggravate further to the point of no return ,the already too fragile political situation in Pakistan . Due to the utter inability and incapability ,the elected government is totally discredited through the negative corporate media propaganda against it ,at the behest of the military establishment .

Public is absolutely frustrated over the aid and help activities at the government level ,where united nation through NGO’s has undertaken relief activities . The degree of corruption among these NGO’s is far beyond greater than the state institutions ,while the religious fanatic political parties ,and Jehadist organization already filthy abandoned in billions of dollars too at ease to execute any relief activity ,at times of disasters ,when people in distress too vulnerable to sympathetic hands ,they further their ideological and political agendas with greater comfort ,are now additionally showered with unprecedented amounts from the Gulf countries and the west ,through their already established institutions in those countries .

It was a shocking hot headlines over the electronic and print media ,when on 23rd august 2010 ,the US-Aid administrator paid visit to the relief camp of the UNO banned terrorist organisation of Jumat-u-Dawa ( JUD ) in the city of Sukker of Sindh province ,handing them over trucks of aid items and food stuff .

More over , the political Trotskyites groups , active in Pakistan ,have also established NGO’s bodies ,through which ,they too collect huge amounts of funds and assistance from abroad .

These relief activities ,have provided golden opportunity to the organizations and political denominations involved in relief works ,not only grab political pockets but it will cast very deep impacts over the political tandem of the country in future .

In this situation ,where Communist Party of Pakistan has faced to suffer since its inception ,beyond imagination every brutality ,which one cannot even trace to find in the medieval ages , at the hands of the state and has been called in the past as agents of India and ex-Soviet Union ,still prevails ,unprecedently ,rather more heinous and barbaric .

There was a too one sided negative propaganda against the Communist Party of Pakistan alleging it as anti state party ,which continues even today .

These have been the major obstacle for the Communist Party of Pakistan to get it-self established, organized at the gross root levels and its supporters have remained always in persistent phobia ,not to fall prey to the state agencies or Islamic fanatics mayhems.

Despite all these too difficult to describe odds , Communist Party of Pakistan not only stands to carry its class struggle activities but as well in wake of this calamity ,very courageously involved in helping the compatriots in the provinces of Pukhtoonkhwa ,Punjab and Sindh ,most devastated regions .

In this connection , Communist Party of Pakistan , reiterates to send its global appeal again to all the fraternal parties , supporters , individual comrades , philanthropists and compatriots ,at home and abroad to extend your helping hand to the Communist Party of Pakistan at this hour of greatest human tragedy and difficult times to resuscitate .

Your this comradely and human assistance will significantly help Communist Party of Pakistan to help its compatriots ,the downtrodden starving masses , victims of this calamity ,in a bit better way with difference ,relinquish their unprecedented miseries ad agonies .

You may send your donations to the relief fund of the Communist Party of Pakistan through following account number .

Account title # Imdadullah Qazi . PLS

NO # 0076-02-01-8749-9 , MCB ( MUSLIM COMMERCIAL BANK )

RISALA ROAD ,HYDERABAD CITY
PAKISTAN .

In case of any difficulties or some concerns you may please send through western union ,by informing us via email the MTC ( money transfer code ) on the party email address below ; cppak2003@yahoo.com

NB : For any details about the CPP flood relief operations , you may please directly contact comrade Imdad Kazi , the In-charge of the relief operations over his cell # 0092 3332714014

Dr .Syed Mazhar Hyder

International department .

Communist Party of Pakistan
Central Secretariat: D-168, Naseem Nagar Phase-III, Hyderabad, Sindh.
Phone: +92-22-2654531, Fax: +92-22-2654531, Mob: +92-333-2714014, +92-300-3065723,
E-Mail: cppak2003@yahoo.com Web: www.cppak.org

Geneva, 1 Sep (Martin Khor) - The flood calamity in Pakistan has again highlighted the urgent need to set up a proper global system to help developing countries affected by climate change and natural disasters.

Pakistan's crisis worsened in the past week, as the Southern region was also inundated by the floods which had started in the North and then spread to the Central region.
About a million people were evacuated in the Southern Sindh province in the past few days as the Indus River burst its banks in several places.

As the scale of the flooding increased, the estimates of costs of the damage and reconstruction also mounted. The Pakistani High Commissioner in London said that more than US$10 -15 billion is needed for reconstructing Pakistan. But that was two weeks ago, before the calamity affected new areas in the South.

The New York Times reported: “Even as Pakistani and international relief officials scrambled to save people and property, they despaired that the nation’s worst natural calamity had ruined just about every physical strand that knit this country together — roads, bridges, schools, health clinics, electricity and communications.

“The destruction could set Pakistan back many years, if not decades, further weaken its feeble civilian administration and add to the burdens on its military.”

The inundation extends for scores of miles beyond the banks of the overflowing Indus River and its tributaries, said Iqbal Zahid, a Pakistani Navy commander in charge of Sindh province's rescue operations. He said the infrastructure all the way from the northernmost Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province to the southernmost Sindh province is ruined and will take many years to rebuild.

According to the New York Times article, more than 20 million people are now affected. The government estimates that the floods have washed away 5,000 miles of roads and railways, 7,000 schools and over 400 health facilities.

Just to build about 500 miles of road in war-ravaged Afghanistan, the United States spent $500 million and several years. The US aid agency has spent $200 million to rebuild just 56 schools, 19 health facilities and other services since the earthquake in the Pakistani controlled portion of Kashmir in 2005.

The article cites a study from two US universities estimating the flood damage at US$7.1 billion. But this is probably an under-estimation. Another news report quotes a government estimate of damage at US$20-30 billion.

The Pakistan tragedy highlights the immense need for financing by developing countries to cope with extreme weather events, an increasing number of which are caused by climate change.

The developed countries have committed to pay for the cost incurred by developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change, under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was signed in 1992.

However, this commitment has remained mainly on paper. The current climate negotiations are supposed to convert the paper commitment to reality.

This week, some Ministers have been invited to Geneva by the Swiss and Mexican governments to discuss climate financing.

The most basic issue, highlighted so dramatically in the Pakistan floods and the Haiti earthquake, is the obvious need for a proper system of assisting countries affected by climate-related disasters.

At present, there is no predictable or reliable system. The affected countries simply have to rely on charity and donations. The funds promised are usually far too little, and even less of that is eventually paid.

Thus the climate talks have to produce a proper institutional financing system, and at the top of the agenda is the setting up of a new Climate Fund. Developing countries want it to be under the authority of the UNFCCC, and not come under the control of the World Bank that they have bad experiences with.
Another key issue is the amount of funds needed, for mitigation, adaptation, technology and capacity building.

For mitigation (measures to prevent climate change), the World Bank's World Development Report 2010 has estimated that: “In developing countries mitigation could cost US$140 to US$175 billion a year over the next 20 years (with associated financing needs of US$265 to US$565 billion).”

A study in India by the Centre for Science and Environment concludes that the additional cost of generating power from renewable technologies in a low-carbon strategy compared to business-as-usual until 2030-31 is estimated at US$203 billion or about $10 billion a year.

For adaptation (measures to cope with the effects of climate change), there are various estimates of financing needs. Most studies are limited in scope (because they leave out several sectors and activities) and thus in their cost estimates.

A World Bank report estimates developing countries need up to US$100 billion a year for adaptation. This is higher than the estimate in the UN climate convention secretariat report that estimates the cost at US$27-66 billion a year.

The most comprehensive study is by scientists led by Martin Parry, former Co-Chair of the adaptation working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The study found that the UNFCCC report had underestimated adaptation costs in sectors it studied and also it left out many sectors.

If under-estimation is corrected in sectors studied, the real cost would be $68-165 billion a year. And if we also include some areas left out in the UNFCCC report (such as damage to ecosystems and damage from weather events), the total adaptation financing needed by developing countries could total $630 billion a year.

Financing is also needed for climate technology. The UNFCCC's technology expert group reported that the finance needs for technology are US$300-1,000 billion a year.

Of this total, developing countries are estimated to have additional funding needs of US$182 – 505 billion a year, for deployment and diffusion of technology. This seems to be an under-estimate as the report controversially assumes the developing countries do not need research and development or technology demonstration, activities confined only for developed countries.

Thus, the amount needed annually by developing countries to combat climate change (US$600 billion for mitigation, another US$600 billion for adaptation, and US$500 billion for technology) is high indeed, and this does not yet take into account the payment for climate debt (over-using of the atmospheric space by developed countries in the past and present).
The promises so far by developed countries (US$10 billion a year in 2010-12 and up to US$100 billion a year by 2020) are very little, compared to what is needed.

As the Pakistan flood tragedy shows, the damage caused by climate change and weather events can be very high. The challenges in preventing the calamities and managing them when they happen are also very great.

The financing system and the amounts of financing have now to be discussed seriously so that developing countries can have a chance of surviving, let alone developing, in future.