ISLAMABAD: Urging the business community, philanthropists, religious scholars, and educational institutions to raise funds for quake victims in Tur­kiye and Syria, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday formed a high-level committee to streamline the relief efforts for the quake-hit people.

“The committee will ensure supply of relief goods to Turkiye and Syria on a priority basis,” the PM said while presiding over a meeting to review the relief activities.

He added relief goods would be dispatched to Turkiye and Syria through land, aerial, and sea routes.

The high-level committee headed by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal would comprise Railways Minister Saad Rafique, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Religious Affairs Minister Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman, and ambassadors in Turkiye and Syria.

“The prime minister ordered to hold fundraising events at schools, colleges, and universities and also appealed to the philanthropists, industrialists, and business community to take part in the fundraising [activities] for the distressed people of Turkiye and Syria,” said an official press release issued by the PMO.

The PM urged the people to donate relief goods at the collection centers of the NDMA.

The PM instructed the NDMA to enhance its coordination with provincial governments to speed up the relief activities.

He also instructed the authorities concerned to arrange blankets, warm clothes, baby food, and tents for the quake-hit people while ensuring the quality of the relief goods being sent to Turkiye and Syria.

The prime minister said that despite limited resources, Pakistan would leave no stone unturned in helping the victims of the quakes. He said that Pakistan has established an air corridor to supply relief goods and a convoy of trucks would soon leave for Turkiye and Syria.

The meeting was told that a team along with the equipment for a 30-bed mobile hospital was already serving in Turkiye while another mobile hospital was being dispatched.

It was informed that besides relief goods, Pakistani rescue teams have reached Turkiye and Syria which were taking part in the relief operations.

Besides, the PIA was also ensuring regular flights from Islamabad and Lahore to Turkiye for the supply of relief goods. The truckloads of relief goods would also leave for Turkiye and Syria within a few days.

The meeting was told that a countrywide campaign was also being run to support the quake victims. The amount can be deposited to Account No. G-12166, established by the prime minister.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2023