ISLAMABAD: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Center (KSRelief) on Thursday launched a food distribution project worth $1 million in collaboration with the government of Punjab to help the underprivileged people during the month of Ramadan.
“Under this food relief project, more than 20,000 food bags will be distributed among the poor families residing in the province during Ramadan,” Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki told Arab News at the project’s inauguration ceremony in Islamabad.
He added that Pakistan was a very important country for Saudi Arabia and the project was “a gift for Pakistani brothers in this difficult time.”
“These relief items are for Punjab, but more welfare projects are also in the pipeline for other provinces,” Al-Malki said, adding that the Kingdom had always tried to support Pakistan and would continue to do so under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“It is a very hard time for all of us,” the Saudi envoy maintained, “but we will come out of it together by helping each other.”
The KSRelief has provided humanitarian and development assistance to millions of beneficiaries in more than 49 countries over four continents. Pakistan is the fifth-largest recipient of aid from the Saudi-based international aid agency and has received more than $120.2 million in aid since 2005.
“The new food distribution campaign will benefit more than 120,000 people in 10 districts of Punjab. The food bags will be distributed by the Hayat Foundation teams under the supervision of KSRelief by going door to door to avoid big gatherings of people due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr. Khalid Al-Othmani, Director KSRelief Pakistan, told Arab News.
He said the beneficiaries would be selected with the help of the Punjab government and all preventive measures would be taken to save the distribution teams from coronavirus.
“We started this project from Punjab since it is the most populated province and severely affected by COVID-19. We will extend it to other provinces as well,” Al-Othmani said, adding that the KSRelief had completed many projects in Pakistan since 2005 and many were still underway that related to water and sanitation, education, infrastructure and medical projects.
Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar thanked the Kingdom for the much needed food relief project.
“On behalf of the people of Pakistan and Punjab, I am thankful to the Saudi leadership and KSRelief for this initiative. Saudi Arabia has always stood by Pakistan in time of need,” he said, adding that the relief package would provide ration to the poor in Ramadan and help the daily wage earners in the province.
“Ambassador Al-Malki is a true friend of Pakistan and both countries’ relations have improved significantly due to his active diplomacy,” Sarwar said.
According to the plan, 10,000 food bags will be distributed in Lahore, 2,000 in Toba Tek Singh and 1,000 each in Faisalabad, Pakpattan, Khanewal, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalnagar and Jhang districts.
Each bag contains 10 kg flour, 5 kg rice, 5-liter cooking oil, 5 kg sugar, 2 kg milk powder, 2 kg basin, 2 kg dates, 1 kg tang powder and half a kilogram black tea.
