Pakistan's hour of need

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has appealed to the international community for more help, saying that his government just couldn't cope with the devastating floods that has killed at least 1,600 people and destroyed 360,000 houses, leaving two million homeless and affecting the lives of an estimated 15 million people.

The appeal for help comes as at least 53 people have been killed in landslides triggered by the floods in northern Pakistan, even as thousands stranded by floods that have submerged villages in the south wait to be evacuated.

The United Nations estimates that billions of dollars will be needed for Pakistan to recover from massive floods that have ravaged the country.

The international community has already donated tens of millions of dollars and provided relief supplies but the UN special envoy for the disaster, Jean-Maurice Ripert, has said that "the emergency phase will require hundreds of millions of dollars and the recovery and reconstruction part will require billions of dollars".

Especially hard hit was the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the site of the worst damage from floods that first hit two weeks ago after extremely heavy monsoon rains.

Much money will be needed for recovery and reconstruction works here as well as in the central and southern provinces of Punjab and Sindh when the flood waters rushed south, bringing death and destruction in their wake.

Many flood victims have complained that aid had been slow in coming, if they came at all, in a stinging indictment of a government that was becoming unpopular by the day.

The catastrophe, has put President Asif Ali Zardari on a poor standing while raising the stock of the military which is at the forefront of relief efforts.

Besides, Zardari's decision to continue with his state trips to Europe during the crisis has renewed criticism of his leadership.

During these testing times, clearly it is the military that has come out smelling like roses while the government is under fire for its tardiness.

The floods seem to have far-reaching effect, inflicting pain on even Pakistanis whose cities and towns were far removed from the floods with fruit and vegetable prices seeing a spike in prices as a result of the vast acres of crops being destroyed by floodwaters.

In Punjab, the breadbasket of Pakistan, at least 1.4 million acres of crops have been destroyed causing the prices of basic items such as tomatoes, onions and potatoes to quadruple in many cities, adding to the misery in a country where many are already struggling with poverty and food insecurity.

Amjad Jamal, spokesman for the World Food Programme, gives an idea of the scale of the problem when he says that at least four million people will need food assistance across Pakistan for the next three months at a cost of nearly US$100 million.

Zardari needs to be more tuned in to the possible damages caused by the weak government response to the floods and realise that hostility towards his government is on the rise.

Hopefully, he will make amends and take steps to hasten relief efforts before the militants gain a bigger foothold.