Restructuring in deluged areas reviewed

Meeting reviewed upcoming WB projects and briefed the chair about progress in different projects across

LAHORE:

Punjab Planning and Development Board Secretary Sohail Anwar met with a World Bank delegation, led by Regional Director Sustainable Development John Roome, on Wednesday. The meeting focused on the response to floods and restructuring the Punjab portfolio.

The meeting also reviewed ongoing and upcoming World Bank projects and the respective Project Directors briefed the chair about updated progress of different projects across Punjab.

During the meeting, the chair and delegates were also briefed about the post-disaster assessment of areas experiencing massive floods during the monsoon, in collaboration with development partners, conducted by government of the Punjab.

The assessment consisted of quantifying and validating 17 sectors, including agriculture and livestock, roads and infrastructure development, health and education, which had been massively affected. The secretary apprised the WB delegation of the government work on policies for instant relief, rehabilitation and economic recovery.

World Bank Regional Director Roome expressed his concern about the current monsoon floods, which had caused widespread countrywide destruction.

He stated that the World Bank was taking stock of the situation and collecting information to assist the Government of Pakistan in immediate relief and post-disaster reconstruction efforts.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2022.