UAE fund to aid Pakistan spends more than Dh1 billion on health, education and infrastructure

The amount covers the first two phases of the UAE Project to Pakistan plan under the directive of the President Sheikh Khalifa.

The UAE helped Pakistan in the reconstruction of two flood-wrecked bridges over the Swat River including the Sheikh Khalifa Bridge pictured here. Wam

ABU DHABI // The UAE’s economic and humanitarian aid projects in Pakistan have now topped Dh1 billion in three years.

In the first two phases of the Project to Assist Pakistan, US$300 million has been distributed in the areas of health care, education, road projects, water supply and other humanitarian assistance.

The project was launched on January 12, 2011, to help Pakistan overcome the consequences of torrential rain and floods.

Swat Valley and north-western areas of the country were devastated by the seasonal floods that wrecked infrastructure, leaving behind the debris of destroyed bridges.

Four road and bridge projects worth $121.58 million have been implemented, including the reconstruction of two flood-wrecked bridges over the Swat River and building two new roads in southern and northern Waziristan.

A major infrastructure project is the reconstruction of the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Bridge that was built 40 years ago. It was destroyed by floods, leaving many villagers cut off.

It is considered the most important bridge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, a main artery for residents and a vital link to the provincial highway. The bridge, 330 metres long, 10 metres wide and six metres high, has a capacity of more than 5,000 vehicles a day and serves about 70,000 commuters.

Anti-erosion, rust and humidity reinforced concrete bases support the bridge, which was supplied with a solar powered lighting system. Management and operation facilities were built, and a pedestrian lane was added. The project cost $12.46 million.

The Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Bridge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which was also destroyed by the floods, was rebuilt at a cost of $10.51 million.

The bridge, 448 metres long, 10.7 metres wide and seven metres high, can accommodate 4,000 vehicles a day and serves two million commuters in an area of 1,235 square kilometres.

It is considered the largest and most modern development project in Pakistan.

The 50km long and 9m wide Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Road has five bridges, 105 sewers, side protection walls and 16.8km-long cement beams. The gross cost of the road amounted to $38.01 million.

The Makeen-Miranshah Road is a modern development project that links Makeen in the north of South Waziristan with Miranshah in the northern Federally Administered Tribal Area, and serves the residents of three towns and 20 villages.

The road, which is 72km long and 9m wide, cuts through one of the most difficult mountainous areas. It crosses over 10 bridges, each 10.4 metres wide.

The bridge, which has 172 sewers, side protection walls, and 26.2 km long cement beams, cost $60.6 million.

There were 60 educational projects that included schools, institutes and academic technical colleges for male and female students in remote areas.

Eight health projects were carried out to build hospitals, health clinics and medical institutes.

Water supply projects included setting up 76 water treatment and purification plants and extending potable water pipes.

Diseases and epidemics went viral in Swat Valley because of the destructive floods. To protect children against disease, the plan provided serums and organised anti-measles and infantile paralysis campaigns in the area.

In September last year, 20,000 children were inoculated, and a plan was laid out to implement the initiative of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, to bring the epidemic under control, prevent health hazards of floods and natural disasters and support international efforts to eliminate these diseases.

The aim was to provide inoculation against infantile paralysis to 11 million children from 2013 to 2015 at a cost of $50 million. These campaigns are expected to reach 11 towns and villages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 13 towns and villages in the Federally Administered Tribal Area for three years.

The plan provided 63,000 baskets of food worth $3.138 million to the homeless who were hit by floods and military operations in 2012 and 2013. Fifty-five tonnes of dates were distributed to various areas and provinces.

In 2012 and 2013, a total of 60,000 school bags filled with supplies and notebooks with an introduction to the UAE were distributed to the towns and villages in the Swat Valley.

Pakistan has been receiving aid in building roads, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development since 2011.

Since then, projects worth $162m have been implemented throughout the country.

In September this year, aid worth a further $100m was announced by Abu Dhabi.

* Reporting by Wam