9 in 10 Pakistanis with access to clean water, claim ministry officials

Committee asks ministry officials to supplement their claim with facts.

ISLAMABAD:

Nine in 10 Pakistanis have access to clean drinking water. This claim was made by the officials of the Ministry of Climate Change at a presentation here on Thursday, surprising all members of the National Assembly (MNA) present in the meeting. 

Former federal minister Zubaida Jalal said in disbelief, “How can you [make such a claim], when 90% people in Balochistan are without water.”

PML-N MNA Ahsan Iqbal also expressed doubts over the claim, saying many parts of Punjab are also without access to clean drinking water.

National Assembly’s Special Committee on Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Chairwoman Shahnaz Wazir Ali, who presided over the meeting, asked the officials to elaborate on their claim with facts.

The MDGs are an eight-point roadmap with measureable target and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people, with major focus on poverty and hunger alleviation.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2012.