PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE: AREAS IN MANSEHRA DISTRICT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 016875

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

KABUL - PLEASE PASS TO CFC-A
DEPT - PLEASE PASS TO USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON ASEC AEMR MASS MOPS PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE: AREAS IN MANSEHRA DISTRICT
WITHOUT ASSISTANCE



1. (U) Summary: Embassy Forward Operating Base - Mansehra
Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and Emboff accompanied NWFP
Parliament minority leader on a November 7 tour of Mansehra
tehsil. During the visit, it became clear that relief was
not reaching several areas damaged by the October 8
earthquake. Resentment at the provincial and national
governments remains high in these areas and may cost the
Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and Pakistan Muslim League
(PML) significantly. Ironically, the natural beneficiaries
of such resentment, the Awami National Party (ANP) and the
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) are noticeably absent. End
Summary.


2. (U) At the invitation of the NWFP parliament minority
leader, OIC and Emboff visited the towns of Bafa, Ghulibal,
Guidepur, and Kularha, all located in Mansehra tehsil.
During the visit, OIC observed that, despite reports to the
contrary, damage in these villages was extensive. Much of
the damage was in the interior of housing compounds, where
back and interior residential walls had collapsed, thereby
evading the initial rapid assessments. With most NGOs and
IOs focused on the more visibly damaged areas of Balakot,
Battgram, and Allai, villagers have received little or no
assistance. Shelter needs appear particularly acute in these
areas. Only tens of tents, most sent by friends and
relatives in other parts of the country, have reached the
area although up to 6000 may be needed.


3. (U) Minority leader Khan has generated significant
goodwill in this area, which he claimed had not supported him
in the last election, through provision of 200 tents
distributed throughout the area. According to local leaders,
no other political leader has provided any significant
support. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F),the
previously leading party in the area, was described as
hypocritical by local leaders. It had sought support during
elections, but abandoned the people in their time of need.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI),whose al-Khidmat Foundation had
established nearby camps, clearly had little support in the
villages. Elders claimed a reluctance to accepts JI support,
as "the party always wanted something in return."


4. (U) Locals expressed the strongest ire for the provincial
government and the civilian side of the federal government,
which they equated with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML).
Villagers claimed that they accepted that the army and
internationals needed to focus on more devastated and
inaccessible areas like Battgram, Balakot, and Allai. The
provincial and federal government should, however, also be
able to provide assistance to less affected areas. They
called on the provincial government to do more to provide
emergency shelter and financing for rebuilding. They also
requested government assistance in re-designing houses to
prevent collapse in the future. No village elders directly
requested USG assistance, instead seeking our help in
pressing the provincial and federal government to do more.
At a lunch attended by the Brigadier commanding the NCO
school at Shinkiari, villagers expressed gratitude for
Pakistan Army efforts to assist. They requested help,
however, in obtaining victim registration cards, which would
allow them to obtain assistance at Army supply distribution
centers. Most claimed that their villages had been bypassed
by Army damage surveyors who had issued the cards. The
Brigadier promised to raise the problem with superiors.


5. (U) OIC asked villagers about the role of secular
opposition parties in providing aid to their areas. Elders
claimed that neither the ANP nor the PPP had been seen. Both
appeared only at election time and had no real grassroots
base in the area. The somewhat surprising beneficiary of
this political vacuum is a little-known local party - the
Hazara Quami Movement (HQM). Financed by an expatriate local
who lives most of the time in the United States, HQM has
established relief camps near the area, and its graffiti has
begun to appear throughout Mansehra and Battgram. HQM's
calls for increased autonomy for the three Hazara districts
of Abottabad, Mansehra, and Battgram appears to be gaining
resonance. Locals repeatedly cited neglect from Peshawar and
Islamabad as the reasons for their growing sympathy towards
the HQM.


6. (SBU) Comment: The lack of assistance to villages in
this part of Mansehra is not unique. NGOs are consistently
finding pockets missed by initial surveys as they push
further into Mansehra and Battgram districts. Anger at the
provincial and civilian side of the federal governments is
likely to persist absent a more proactive assistance program.
While we believe that the HQM fascination is likely to be
short-lived, its underlying premises of neglect from Peshawar
and the need for increased local control of resources may
well endure. End Comment.


7. (U) Embassy Islamabad is transmitting this cable on
behalf of FOB Mansehra.
CROCKER