Nawaz reiterates demand for house repair funds
Sharif reiterates his demand that federal govt move quickly to provide provincial govt funds.
LAHORE:
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Saturday reiterated his demand that the federal government move quickly to provide the provincial government the funds needed to pay out Rs100,000 each to the families in the Punjab whose houses had been damaged or destroyed in this year’s catastrophic floods.
Speaking at a meeting of his faction of the Pakistan Muslim League on Saturday, the former prime minister also said that the financial assistance provided by the international community for the rehabilitation of the flood victims must be spent in a highly transparent manner to ensure, on the one hand that that those affected by the calamity were able to start a new chapter of their life and on the other that the credibility of state institutions was restored.
“Our party will make sure,” he said, “that each and every penny of the financial assistance extended by national philanthropy as well as the international community in a commendable gesture, is expended for the designated rehabilitation work.”
The high level party meeting had been convened to review preparations for an international donors’ conference that the Punjab government is hosting on September 30. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali khan, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, the chief coordinator of PML-N’s Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, MNAs Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Sirdar ZulfiqarAli Khan Khosa and Senator Pervez Rashid also attended the meeting.
The meeting reviewed a number of proposals for the donors’ conference and discussed the initiatives the Punjab government has so far taken for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims. It also heard complaints and discussed projects for the future.
In his briefing to the meeting, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said he hoped that the proposed donors’ conference would go a long way towards raising the needed funds for rehabilitation of the flood stricken people.
He said he wished to see the brave people who had so far borne their miseries with remarkable fortitude, resume life with a new vigour and determination.
He said the Punjab government had extended invitations to many national and international philanthropies, worldwide donor agencies, local and foreign non-government organisations and senior diplomats at the foreign missions in Pakistan. They participants, he said, would be apprised of the provincial government’s plans and projects for effective rehabilitation of the flood affected people.
He also informed the participants about the details of the provincial government’s expenditure on flood relief and rehabilitation.
In his concluding remarks, Nawaz Sharif insisted that coming to the aid of a people hit by a huge calamity was a national duty of all Pakistanis towards their brethren in distress and that transparency must be the guiding principle in the gigantic task.
He said the PML-N workers and organisation must ensure that no flood victim was left behind. He said he would himself pay frequent visits to the affected areas to oversee the rehabilitation work.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2010.
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Saturday reiterated his demand that the federal government move quickly to provide the provincial government the funds needed to pay out Rs100,000 each to the families in the Punjab whose houses had been damaged or destroyed in this year’s catastrophic floods.
Speaking at a meeting of his faction of the Pakistan Muslim League on Saturday, the former prime minister also said that the financial assistance provided by the international community for the rehabilitation of the flood victims must be spent in a highly transparent manner to ensure, on the one hand that that those affected by the calamity were able to start a new chapter of their life and on the other that the credibility of state institutions was restored.
“Our party will make sure,” he said, “that each and every penny of the financial assistance extended by national philanthropy as well as the international community in a commendable gesture, is expended for the designated rehabilitation work.”
The high level party meeting had been convened to review preparations for an international donors’ conference that the Punjab government is hosting on September 30. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali khan, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, the chief coordinator of PML-N’s Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, MNAs Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Sirdar ZulfiqarAli Khan Khosa and Senator Pervez Rashid also attended the meeting.
The meeting reviewed a number of proposals for the donors’ conference and discussed the initiatives the Punjab government has so far taken for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims. It also heard complaints and discussed projects for the future.
In his briefing to the meeting, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said he hoped that the proposed donors’ conference would go a long way towards raising the needed funds for rehabilitation of the flood stricken people.
He said he wished to see the brave people who had so far borne their miseries with remarkable fortitude, resume life with a new vigour and determination.
He said the Punjab government had extended invitations to many national and international philanthropies, worldwide donor agencies, local and foreign non-government organisations and senior diplomats at the foreign missions in Pakistan. They participants, he said, would be apprised of the provincial government’s plans and projects for effective rehabilitation of the flood affected people.
He also informed the participants about the details of the provincial government’s expenditure on flood relief and rehabilitation.
In his concluding remarks, Nawaz Sharif insisted that coming to the aid of a people hit by a huge calamity was a national duty of all Pakistanis towards their brethren in distress and that transparency must be the guiding principle in the gigantic task.
He said the PML-N workers and organisation must ensure that no flood victim was left behind. He said he would himself pay frequent visits to the affected areas to oversee the rehabilitation work.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2010.