International community can’t entirely fund Pak flood recovery efforts: Holbrooke

ISLAMABAD - US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has reiterated that the international community cannot fund the entire cost of recovery from the devastation caused by floods, and that the Pakistan government must do more in this regard.

“The international community will not be able to pick up the full cost of reconstruction,” the Daily Times quoted Holbrooke, as saying, a day after donors from the international community raised aid pledges to almost two billion dollars.

Noting that the eventual cost of the recovery efforts could run into the “tens of billions of dollars”, Holbrooke said, “There will be a need for continued international assistance, but what we need to stress is that at a time of scarcity in other countries, a reconstruction effort cannot be financed completely by other countries.”

He called on the Pakistani government to redouble its efforts towards extending its help to the flood-victims.

Earlier, Holbrooke had warned Pakistan that the international community would be able to contribute only around 25 per cent of aid needed and the rest would have to be raised by the government.

According to an UN estimate, 21 million people have been affected by the disaster, out of which twelve million people are in need of emergency food aid. (ANI)