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Pak expats raise Dh550,000 for new school block

DUBAI — The foundation stone laying ceremony of the new six-room block of the Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum School in Dubai was held on Wednesday after the Dubai Municipality gave its go-ahead recently.

Construction of the block has become possible only after the Pakistani community in the UAE raised a sum of Dh550,000 at a dinner party hosted by Amanullah Larik, Pakistani Consul-General in Dubai last year.

“We now have a total of Dh850,000 which will be utilised as soon as the construction starts,” said Larik. He also said that a major portion of the funds were already in place in the Development Fund Account. The total amount needed for the construction work has been raised, thanks to the joint efforts of the community and the consulate that has donated Dh300,000 of the total amount.

“The generous gesture of the community has bucked up spirits and I now hope that there is scope for other community projects as well,” he added. The dinner that was attended by 25 people included Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE, top businessmen as well as heads of Pakistani associations in the UAE. “Within 10 minutes, the generous business community stepped in to the aid of the students who had expected the new block to be complete during the summer vacations in 2004,” said Larik.

Construction work on the new six-room block of Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum School and the administration block of the Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School in Sharjah had been on hold since last year due to lack of funds.