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Flood Recovery Could Take Years Says Pakistani President

   VOA News 24 August 2010

   Pakistan  President   Asif  Ali  Zardari has said it could take three
   years  or  more  to recover from weeks of devastating floods that have
   left millions of people homeless.
   On  Tuesday,  Mr.  Zardari  said he believes Pakistan will never fully
   recover  from the floods and that the government is working to protect
   people from future flooding.
   Emergency  workers  in the southern part of the country are shoring up
   levees in an attempt to protect cities and villages threatened by more
   flooding  Tuesday.   Tens  of thousands of people have been evacuated
   from Shadad Kot in southern Sindh province.
   The  floods have so far covered about one-fifth of the country, killed
   an estimated 1,600 people, and destroyed crops and livestock.
   U.N. officials in Pakistan are predicting that nearly a month into the
   flooding, the situation is getting worse.
   The  International  Committee  of  the  Red  Cross called the floods a
   catastrophe  of  unparalleled  magnitude.  The group said that with a
   further  month of monsoon rain forecast, the floods are not yet likely
   to have reached their peak.
   Red  Cross  spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said the group has provided
   more  than  150,000  people  with one-month food rations, but that the
   relief effort is not keeping pace with the rising number of people who
   need help.
   Krimitsas said other concerns are healthcare and water borne and other
   diseases,  and  warned people about mines and unexploded ordnance that
   have  been  moved  by  the  floodwaters.   She said such devices have
   already seriously injured six people.
   As  the flood waters race south, Pakistani officials have been meeting
   in  Washington  with  the International Monetary Fund to deal with the
   country's debt crisis. Â
   On  Monday,  IMF  officials said they are re-evaluating the terms of a
   $10 billion loan program Pakistan agreed to in 2008.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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