Sindh mulls soft loans, jobs for survivors

KARACHI: The Sindh government is considering soft loans for small businesses and jobs, along with Rs20,000 for flood survivors in order to help them at this hour of need.

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said this on Friday at a meeting with the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Karachi division at CM House.

Sources said that the CM quoted the president as saying that everything should be done to help these people and their rehabilitation was a priority and responsibility. “They are the sons of the soil and the government will not let them be displaced,” sources quoted the CM as saying.

Flood survivors would be sent from Rohri and Larkana to Karachi on a special train and PPP workers would take them to different relief camps.

The CM lamented that even though the district governments had been given money, proper food was still not being provided at the camps.

After long deliberations, the PPP Karachi division decided to form district committees to cater to camps in the province.

Monitoring committees supervised by senior party leaders will oversee the work. Town municipal officers as well as party office bearers will be roped in to ensure proper food is sent to the camps.

One monitoring committee will comprise Taj Haider, Professor ND Khan, Najmi Alam, Rashid Rabbani, Waqar Mehdi. The ladies wing headed by deputy speaker Shahla Raza and adviser Sharmila Farooqui will oversee the women’s camps. They decided that the government is going to set up more camps in Gadap, Bin Qasim, Keamari and Gulshan towns. The CM informed them that the provincial zakat committee will provide one billion rupees to the flood survivors and the law-enforcement agencies will set up pickets around each camp.

Party office bearers were directed to mobilise the People Doctors Forum and Peoples Paramedical Staff to help the government at this crucial time. Abdul Qadir Patel, Rafique Engineer, Akhtar Jadoon, Sajjid Jokhiyo, Rashid Rabbani, Nadeem Bhutto and Saeed Ghani were among the party members who attended.

Balochistan CM was well informed of Tori Bund breach

The CM said the Tori Bund was breached in agreement with the chief minister of Balochistan, who was informed of the decision ahead of time.

Online reported on Friday that Qaim Ali Shah expressed these views during a visit of a relief camp at Razzaqabad. He said he did not agree with a statement made by Mir Zafarullah Jamali that only the lands of important people had been saved by the government.

He said that the devastation had covered the lands of the wealthy and poor alike. No one was safe from the torrent of water and therefore, instead of mud slinging and political point scoring, we should help the masses, he added.

‘Flood affected 6 districts severely’

Sindh Chief Secretary Fazalur Rehman said on Friday that six districts have been affected by the floods but neither have we have estimated the loss nor have we demanded any funds from the federal government.

The CS chaired a meeting in Sukkur at the DCO office and later talked to the media at the Sukkur Barrage. He said that the province was facing a loss of billions of rupees and the Sindh government has abandoned all its non-development projects.

Teams of doctors would be selected from all medical colleges and hospitals in Karachi and Hyderabad and would reach the camps in about three days, he said. However, to combat gastroenteritis and infectious diseases, ORS sachets would be distributed in all camps from Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2010.