The Pakistani Community in South Africa has donated Rs 37,000,000 in the biggest fundraising event held for SC/PM Diamer Basha & Mohmand Dams by the Pakistani Community in South Africa ever.
An autographed bat and ball of Prime Minister Imran Khan was auctioned for 0.3 million Rand (South African Currency) and 70 thousand Rand respectively. National Cricket Teams signed bat was also auctioned for 1.5 lac Rands.
The fundraising event was arranged by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) South Africa Chief Organizer Zahid Afzal.
Event was graced by the Former Captain and Commentator Ramiz Hasan Raja and the Pakistan cricket team featuring Captain Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Shahdab Khan, Usman Shinwari, Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Bowling Coach Azhar Mehmood, Team Management Talat Ali and Mansoor Rana.
Speaking at the occasion, the Chief Guest Senator Faisal Javed thanked Pakistani Community for generously donating in the dam fund. He stated that with this passion we can overcome every hurdle.
“We all have to work hard together to steer the country on the path of progress”, he added. Imran Khan, he said, with the blessings of ALLAH Imran has the will to make impossible, possible.
Senator Faisal Javed said that it has been more than 40 years now, not a single dam was built and presently we have the water storage capacity of one month only.
Faisal Javed said that Diamer Basha and Mohmand Dams will help solve water crisis in the country. He said that Pakistan receives around 145 million acre feet of water every year but can only save 13.7 million acre feet. He said that Pakistan needs 40 mil acre feet of water but 29 million acre feet of our floodwater is wasted because we have few dams. We need more Dams, he added.
Senator Faisal Javed said that we have only two big reservoirs/dams and we can save water only for one month against the minimum requirement of four months. He said that India can store water for six months, adding that the US can do it for 30 months whereas Egypt can do it for 33 months.
The PTI leader said that Pakistan can store only 10 percent of its annual water flows and most alarming fact is that the per capita water availability in the country has gone down to 1000 cubic meters today from 5,000 cubic meters when Pakistan was made.
Faisal Javed also paid tribute to Supreme Court of Pakistan and the former Chief Justice Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar for initiating donation process for dams and in which uptil now Rs 9.6 billion have been raised.
“The deteriorating state of exports, investment and foreign reserves is getting better”, he said and urged overseas Pakistanis to use banking channels to send their remittances.
“Our government is committed to address the problems faced by overseas Pakistanis”, he said.
Commenting on the ongoing series between Pakistan and South Africa, he expressed hope that Pakistani team would conclude the series with a win.
Speaking at the occasion, Ramiz Raja said that Imran Khan is a true leader and lauding his commitment to the construction of dams. He also expressed his resolve to support prime minister in the cause.
