FAISALABAD:The Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) has arranged Rs 6 million funds for immediate relief while more funds will be raised for rehabilitation of the flood affected people of Balochistan.
Addressing a first meeting for fund raising for the flood affectees, FCCI President Atif Munir Sheikh said that the trade body had sufficient funds under the heading of ‘Disaster management’. He said that during the last AGM the house had approved spending this many for national calamities as well as on CSR activities.
He said that he was in touch with the government ministries, departments concerned and international NGOs while Pakistan Railways has offered to run a special cargo train to carry relief goods free of cost to Quetta. He said that Zain Bugatti, Federal Minister for Anti-narcotics has also approached him and offered to arrange C-130 for transportation of relief goods to the far-flung areas of Balochistan.
He said that a team of FCCI members could also be airlifted to distribute the relief goods under their own supervision. He requested former presidents, executive members and other philanthropists to give their input to finalise a comprehensive relief strategy.
However, he said that separate committees should be constituted to undertake different tasks starting from fund raising up to the distribution of relief goods and rehabilitation work.
Former President Mian Javed Iqbal said that “we should not hesitate in requesting for relief as it is a noble and humanitarian task. A proposal was floated that instead of concentrating on the entire affected area, we should pick the worst hit far-flung village of Balochistan and focus on its complete rehabilitation.
Mian Javed Iqbal said that messages may be dispatched to all FCCI members so that they could also share their contribution. He said that each corporate member must pay Rs. 5,000 while associate members should pay Rs. 2,000 each but this payment should be optional without any compulsion.
Atif Munir Sheikh said that other trade associations of the city may also be requested to contribute towards this fund. Aamir Nisar of Samana Association said that they had immediately arranged cooked food for the flood affectees of Rajanpur. Mian Javed Iqbal appreciated his gesture and said that you should involve President FCCI and arrange full coverage of this event to motivate other associations to follow this suit. Vice President Rana Fayyaz Ahmad, Engineer Rizwan Ashraf, Chaudhary Muhammad Nawaz, Ayub Sabir, Khalid Habib, Sheikh Abdul Qayyum, Dr. Khurram Tariq, Mian Gulzar Ahmad, Muhammad Azhar Chaudhary, Jawad Shafique and Sohail Butt were also present during this meeting.