'Govt lacks infrastructure to deal with flood crisis'

PM chairs Council of Common Interest meeting, draws attention to flood rehabilitation needs.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said the government does not have the required infrastructure to deal with the flood crisis.

The prime minister made these comments at a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) at the PM Secretariat in Islamabad. He said the army, NDMA and PTMA have been deployed on a large scale to deal with the situation in the flood-ravaged areas.

It was also decided in the meeting that the sixth population consensus will be conducted in August, 2011 under the supervision of the Pakistan Army.

Gilani acknowledged the role of the international community in helping the flood victims, saying that the response from other countries has been encouraging and visits by high profile dignitaries was testimony to their support.

Gilani added that the United Nations has launched an appeal for flood victims while IMF has agreed to provide $450 million as budgetary support to the government.

The CCI meeting was attended by chief ministers from the four provinces as well Information Minister Qamaruz-Zaman Kaira.