Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across much of Pakistan have killed nearly 1,000 people and injured and displaced thousands more since mid-June, officials said on Saturday.
Authorities ordered thousands of people living near flood-swollen rivers in northern areas to evacuate their homes as rivers had still not reached maximum capacity.
Pakistan has been hit with particularly heavy rains this year and rescuers have struggled to evacuate thousands of marooned people from flood-hit areas. The crisis has forced the government to declare a state of emergency, mobilise the army for relief efforts and call for international assistance.
The National Disaster Management Authority in its latest overnight report said 45 people were killed in flood-related incidents from Friday to Saturday. That brought the death toll since mid-June to 982, with 1,456 injured.
Thousands of people whose homes were swept away now live in tents, miles away from their inundated villages and towns, after being rescued by soldiers, local disaster workers and volunteers.
In north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, flooding destroyed the gates of a major water control system on the Swat River, leading to flooding in Charsadda and Nowshera districts.
“We pre-empted the situation and warned and forced hesitating residents to leave their homes for safety and move to relief camps established at government buildings in safe places,” said Sania Safi, a top administrator in Charsadda.
Ms Safi said there was concern of further rising of the Swat and Kabul rivers, adding to the misery of residents who have already suffered the loss of lives and property.
In Nowshera, local administrator Quratul Ain Wazir said flood waters submerged streets before the gushing towards low-lying areas.
“Our administration has evacuated many people and taken others to relief camps where government provided beds and food in safe buildings,” she said. “We will use police to force those hesitant to leave their homes.”
Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said soldiers and rescue organisations were helping people to reach safety in many districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Sindh province in the south, Punjab in the east and Balochistan in the south-west.
“Government has sanctioned sufficient funds to financially compensate the affected people and we will not leave our people alone in this tough time,” she said.
She urged wealthy people and relief organisations to come forward with aid.
The United Nations plans to launch a $160 million flash appeal for donations on August 30 in response to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's plea for help, foreign ministry spokesman Asim Iftikhar said.
The flooding could not come at a worse time for Pakistan, whose economy is in free fall and whose politics are gripped by crisis following the ousting of former prime minister Imran Khan by a parliamentary vote of no confidence in April.
According to the NDMA, more than two million acres of cultivated crops have been wiped out since the rains started in June, while 3,100 kilometres of roads have been destroyed and 149 bridges have been washed away.
In Balochistan, the provincial disaster management authority spokesman Asadullah Nasir said all 34 districts were badly affected by the heavy rains and flooding. Road networks were destroyed and bridges washed away. Relief work is possible only with helicopters, which are often unable to operate because of the bad weather, he said.
He said officials had confirmed 235 deaths but the number was expected to increase significantly after communications are restored.
The rains are expected to continue, mainly in the south and south-west. The monsoon season in Pakistan usually runs from July to mid September.
Officials say this year's floods are comparable to 2010, the worst on record, when more than 2,000 people died and nearly a fifth of the country was under water.
They blame the devastation on man-made climate change, saying Pakistan is unfairly bearing the consequences of irresponsible environmental practices elsewhere in the world.
Pakistan is eighth on the Global Climate Risk Index, a list compiled by the environmental NGO Germanwatch of countries deemed most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change.
With reporting from AP and AFP
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Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
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Winner: Ezz Al Rawasi, Connor Beasley, Helal Al Alawi.
