US ignores Pakistan call for direct funds transfer

The US is in the process of short-listing NGOs to carry out aid work in Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar bill grant, despite the Pakistani government’s demand that a major chunk of the funds be handed over to it directly for utilisation.

At a recent US state department briefing, special US envoy Richard Holbrooke revealed that he had started looking at a list of 1,000 NGOs, many of which may finally be assigned the aid projects. His office has appointed a full-time NGO person to coordinate the activities of the organisations. There are reports that former ambassador Robin Raphael has been appointed super monitor and coordinator.

Holbrooke’s stance runs contrary to Pakistan’s expectations. A few days ago, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had told newsmen that the US government had committed to pass Pakistan $834 million from the promised $1.5 billion for social uplift projects.

Meanwhile, differences persist in the US over who should get the aid and through what channels. Sources say Washington has decided to engage US NGOs, known commonly as the Beltway Bandits, for the projects. This, despite Pakistani objections to the deployment of foreign NGOs to run aid programmes instead of utilising the money through local organisations.

According to its estimates, a foreign employee of an NGO is paid 135 times higher than a local employee. Holbrooke was himself running three NGOs until recently, one of which was operating in Pakistan.