Summary
Content
CONSOLIDATED WEEKLY SITREP
1. Security
2. Air Operations
3. Immigration and Customs
4. Infrastructure and Static Road Assessment
5. Logistics Coordination
6. Civil Military Logs
7. Fuel
8. NFI Pipeline
9. Road Status
10. Warehousing
11. Commodity Availability
12. Other Information
1. SECURITY
General
- Large parts of Islamabad will be shut down on March 3rd due to President Bush's visit to Pakistan.
- A country-wide strike and protests have been planned for March 3rd over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed published in certain European newspapers.
- UN offices in Islamabad will be closed for these three days due to restricted movement and to ensure the security of personnel.
- Movement in and out of the city is likely to be affected over this period.
- The Pakistan Military is maintaining reinforced security throughout the affected area.
Bagh
- Bagh District has remained calm throughout the recent upheavals.
- Demonstrations in Rawalakot City on Friday February 24th, Sunday February 26th and March 1st took place without incident.
- All international staff will be required to carry passports and visas or photocopies thereof due to the implementation of security checkpoints.
- Operations on Friday March 3rd will cease by 2 pm as a security precaution due to the planned strikes and protests.
Batagram
- Operations will be shut down on Friday March 3rd due to security concerns.
- The escort requirement for all movement outside of Batagram has been amended to allow unaccompanied travel to Chatterplain. The overall policy, which was implemented due to concerns over the recent protests, will be reassessed on Monday, March 6th.
- A radio room will opened in Bana in the coming week.
- This will ease operational restrictions at this location.
2. AIR OPERATIONS
General
- There were no UNHAS flights March 3rd because of security concerns and limited access to the airport.
- Flights may continue to be affected through the weekend.
- Due to a funding shortfall, UNHAS reduced its passenger schedule on February 18th. This revised schedule will remain in effect until at least March 15th. For more information please see www.unjlc.org/pakistan.
- UNHAS has announced it hopes to keep two Mi-8s for passenger flights over the coming period.
- Immediate cuts are being made to the UNHAS cargo fleet. A revised plan for air operations has been submitted to take the operation through until the end of August. Further details will be announced in the coming week.
- These cuts in air capacity are an increasing cause of concern since many regions in the affected area remain inaccessible by road.
Bagh
- Actors have been proactive in finding alternatives to air travel since the reduction in the UNHAS passenger schedule.
- UNHAS has reported that local demand in Bagh currently does not exceed capacity.
- WFP will be forced to fly some of their March food rations into sites in Bedhi due to continuing road blockages.
Batagram
- There will be no helicopter operations from March 3rd-5th due to the security situation.
- CARE has completed its helicopter operation from Chatterplain into the upper Allai Valley.
- A fuel truck is being used at Chatterplain to provide a percentage of helicopter refueling, resulting in improved efficiency.
3. CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION
Nothing further to report
4. INFRASTRUCTURE AND STATIC ROAD ASSESSMENT
General
- UNJLC is coordinating a detailed survey of roads in the affected area in order to further determine the most cost effective mode of transport to the affected area.
- NOPS has been assisting in this process and have offered to expand their involvement over the coming weeks.
- Many zones in the affected area remain inaccessible by road because of lack of infrastructure and constant landslides.
- Landslides and rock falls are expected to increase over the next two months due to increased rainfall and the Spring melt.
- The summer monsoon season will likely increase these problems even further.
- Click here for maps and detailed road assessments.
Bagh
- The UNJLC push on road tracking continues in the Bagh area.
- The current focus is on routes to be used by returnees. Bir Pani to Rerban remains a priority since this will be an essential access road.
- Heavy rain on February 25th and 26th caused widespread transport problems. There have been several landslides leading to blockages and road conditions are treacherous from topsoil which has been washed across the roads.
- Minor routes are extremely muddy and difficult to access in places.
- The route from Bandi Abbaspur to Mehmood Ghali has now been reopened. (Source: Pakistan Military)
- UNOPS has begun survey and clearance work on the road from Aliabad to Haji Pir.
- It is also assessing access possibilities to Bedhi.
Batagram
- The road from Besham to Bana has now been assessed and tracked.
- A member of the UNJLC GIS team will be in Batagram over the coming week to work on completing the majority of essential area road assessments and GPS data collection.
- UNOPS has established a base of operations at Batagram and a forward base at Bana.
- Staff consists of approximately 20 nationals and 2 internationals.
- It will be conducting assessments of all villages and roads in the area of operation, starting with the Allai valley
- UNJLC is coordinating with this team on gathering road assessment and status information.
5. LOGISTICS
General
- Plans for the transition from relief to return and recovery are being discussed by the Logistics Cluster.
- UNJLC's mandate is due to end on April 12th. Work is currently underway to determine which of these functions, if any, will be required beyond this date.
- UNJLC has closed its hub in Mansehra due to reduced necessity.
- UNJLC Islamabad will remain available to fulfil any regional needs for representation, information or assistance. Contact pakistan.infoteam@unjlc.org.
Bagh
- Atlas will become the focal point for all Bagh region free trucking.
- IOM and Atlas fleet coordinators are liaising to ensure that IOM trucks remain fully tasked.
- IOM, ATLAS, UNHCR, UNJLC and HIC are coordinating on the plan for the return. UNJLC's role will be to provide road tracking and assessment.
- As mentioned in Item 2, the route into Rawalakot from Islamabad remains a key issue. NGOs are currently forced to use the extended route through Bagh, increasing the timeframe of travel alongside the cost of their operations.
- From a recovery and reconstruction perspective, these actors could operate more efficiently and thus for longer if they were granted approval to use this road.
Batagram
- The closure of the local IDP camps is due to begin on March 10th
- Return data has been completed. The current local camp population is 20,000 spread over 5 camps.
- There is currently no supplier of transportation to return IDPs to their home regions.
- This responsibility may have to be assumed by the Pakistan Military and/or local authorities.
- SCF, UNICEF and German Agroaction will be the main suppliers of items for return kits.
- They may be in need of trucking and warehouse support.
- The current plan is to use a "hub and spoke model" with Bana designated as the hub.
6. CIVIL-MILITARY LOGS
General
- The Pakistan Military and Police are making escorts available for all UN and NGO staff traveling across the affected area. It is recommended that this service be used as a precautionary measure until the security situation calms down.
Bagh
- The Pakistan Military have not been present at recent local Log's Cluster meetings.
- A coordinated effort is underway to promote renewed attendance.
- The Pakistan Military19 Div is pulling out of Bagh, leaving the region with one brigade instead of five.
- The Pakistan Military engineers attached to these brigades will also be withdrawn at this time.
- The 6th brigade will remain, however is has a highly reduced team of engineers.
- The Pakistan Military's responsibilities will likely be handed over to the local authorities and Engineer for Roads.
7. FUEL
Nothing further to report
8. NFI PIPELINE
General
- UNJLC is using the LSS data on pipeline and historical distribution data to make projections of tonnages by air and road cargo required.
- The updated incoming/on-order, in-stock and distributed data has been requested for February from all actors in the humanitarian relief operation.
- All LSS figures and products compiled by UNJLC have now been published on the UNJLC website. These include reports, maps, graphs, summaries and projections to date from the start of the project. They can be found at www.unjlc.org/pakistan/supply_chain/.
- There has been a very poor response to requests for pipeline data for donor and planning purposes. The UNJLC cargo movement request procedure is prioritising cargo transport in favour of those agencies and NGOs who have provided their pipeline information to assist in forward planning.
- The UNJLC cargo coordination cell has reported a backlog of 3616 MT of food and 598 MT of NFI. This is due to a decrease in air capacity and the slowdown in operations because of bad weather and the security situation.
9. ROAD STATUS
General
- Rain over the weekend of February 25th has severely reduced road access across the affected area.
- For latest road status updates and corresponding maps, see www.unjlc.org/pakistan.
Batagram
- The road from Besham to Bana has been opened for 4WD traffic.
- The Pakistan Military is currently working to clear the roads from Bana to Pashto and Bana to Guntar.
Muzaffarabad
- Much of the Jhelum and Neelum Valleys have been Red-No-Go over the last week due to landslides and a serious accident affecting a UN vehicle.
- The Jhelum Valley has now been reopened up to Hattian.
10. WAREHOUSING
General
- For the latest summary of warehouse capacity, location maps and contacts, go to www.unjlc.org/pakistan.
Bagh
- WFP has established additional Bagh district temporary warehouses for NRSP, ARC and IOM.
- The UNICEF back to school program is getting underway.
- Current warehouse capacity is insufficient to support this project.
- UNHCR has requested UNJLC and UNICEF logistics support to help rationalize storage.
- Agencies and NGOs have been requested by UNJLC to submit a list of relief items which have not yet been attributed.
- UNJLC will coordinate these stocks for use by UNHCR and IOM in the return and recovery phase of the operation.
Batagram
- WFP has agreed to provide access to half a 10x32 warehouse currently used by CARE in Bana.
- This will facilitate the storage of return package goods.
- It will also serve as a forward hub for goods tasked for onward movement into the valley requiring temporary storage before transfer to smaller vehicles
- There are 8 7X9 mobile storage units available. Formal requests should be directed to the head of WFP logistics in Islamabad.
11. COMMODITY AVAILABILITY
- For details of suppliers in the affected area see the UNJLC yellow pages at www.unjlc.org/pakistan.
Bagh
- A market survey for local transport and labour costs is being conducted. The current results are as follows:
NB. These are the costs at the Bagh City Bazaar and indicate the lowest and highest prices found. Note that price variance is often caused by the quality of goods.
| ITEM | LOW | HIGH |
|---|---|---|
| Stove | 250 | 400 |
| Blanket | 400 | 1400 |
| CGI Sheets 8' | 350 | 600 |
| CGI Sheets 10' | 680 | 800 |
| Timber | 500/ft | - |
| Mattresses | 900 | 1800 |
| Children's Shoes (clothing indicator) | 150 | 300 |
| 20kg bag flour (food indicator) | 270 | - |
| Kitchen Sets | 4450 | 6000 |
| Lanterns | 300 | 500 |
| Sleeping Bags | Not available | - |
| Bed Sheets | 100 | 200 |
| Pillows | 65 | 150 |
| Jerry Cans | 150 | - |
12. OTHER INFORMATION
Bagh
- The contract for the UN accommodation camp in Bagh ends on 31st March. Discussions over the terms of extension are ongoing.
- The following is an update on exit dates and plans for the Bagh area:
| Actor | Exit (projected) | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Save the Children UK | 2008 | 300 schools with local materials and contractors |
| Goal | April 2006 | 100 Schools material from ISB and MUZZ
School furniture distribution for 800 schools |
| MSF Belgium | December 2006 (Bir Pani & Mallot June 2006) |
Hospital construction and healthcare rehabilitation. |
Batagram
- UNOPS will be initiating a weekly first aid training on Friday afternoons at 3pm. Interested parties can contact Ged Healy at gedh@unops.org.af.
For further information contact pakistan.infoteam@unjlc.org.