Pakistan flood victims going into debt to rebuild
Associated Press
17 October 2010 NOWSHERA, Pakistan (AP) — With their villages in shambles, winter on its way and government help slow to arrive, Pakistan’s flood victims are scrambling to rebuild their homes. Many are taking on debt as the price of construction materials has soared following the disaster that damaged or destroyed 1.9 million houses. The rush to rebuild three months after the water first came tearing through is a sign of Pakistanis’ lack of faith in the weak civilian government, a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamist militants whose patchy response to the crisis has undermined its stability. The government has promised it would come up with a long-term reconstruction strategy, but flood victims say self-reliance is a more realistic, and timely, option. Aid agencies say they, too, are facing the time crunch and are running short of funds to provide temporary shelter for those displaced by the deluge. Ghulam Ali’s three-bedroom, one-story house in this northwestern city collapsed during the floods. To rebuild, he has had to borrow 50,000 rupees ($583) from friends and family — what many Pakistanis earn in half a year — but it hasn’t been enough to even get past the foundation. To top that off, the 46-year-old lost a fortune in tools and products when his shoe shop was damaged by the floods. All around Ali in the Abakhel neighborhood of Nowshera city are damaged houses and desperate residents. An older woman next door cried as she begged for help to build “just a room and kitchen.” A few streets away, a family unable to start rebuilding has pitched a tent within their damaged home’s walls. “Courage and hope is the only thing we have left,” said Ali, whose family has been staying with relatives. … The Pakistani government has pledged to provide 20,000 rupees ($233) per family now to help rebuilding, along with 80,000 rupees later. But the distribution of the funds have lagged — most of the flood victims interviewed in Nowshera over the past week said they hadn’t seen any government money. Even if they get the full 100,000 rupees ($1,165), victims complain it won’t build much. Ali, for instance, estimates he’ll need at least 450,000 rupees ($5,244) to rebuild his home. Several flood victims said they would have to take on debt to finance their new homes, but were worried that without any assets, banks wouldn’t lend to them. Others said they couldn’t afford to take on loans if they had interest payments attached. … As more flood victims try to rebuild, demand for materials has sent construction prices soaring. Cement that sold for roughly 200 rupees ($2.33) a bag before the floods is now 370 rupees ($4.31), said Nadeem Khattak, whose family runs a construction firm and operates a relief camp for flood victims. The price of steel is up by at least a third, he said. Reports have circulated about people stealing bricks from damaged homes, so many flood-hit families keep a member posted at their property to watch their pile. People who want to buy bricks will find they’re 70 percent more expensive than before, said Khattak, whose own estate in Nowshera was badly hit. … For many flood victims, the disaster is beyond anything they could have imagined — even for a largely impoverished nation of 175 million that has lurched from crisis to crisis over its 63-year history. Several, such as 47-year-old Delkhushad Khan, a kitemaker, grew up in the houses vanquished by the water. Asked how he and others would survive, Khan offered a typical response: “We are at the mercy of God.”
