‘We never got the Rs200 million’

Sindh govt yet to give Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) the Rs200 million allocated for disasters.

KARACHI: The Sindh government has not, despite many reminders from the finance department, given the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) the Rs200 million allocated for disasters.

According to PDMA chairman Saleh Farooqi, the authority was supposed to spend the money on rescue and relief work during the foods, but it was cash strapped. “It is very unfortunate that we could not get our own budget in this calamity,” he told The Express Tribune.

The PDMA would have set up rescue units and bought machinery, if the budget had been given on time. “Whatever funds the government had, were released to the relief department of the district government,” he said.

Farooqi added that the early recovery phase will start soon with the UN’s help. They will start with individual people by constructing houses, distributing seed and fertiliser. In the second phase, the government will try to restore basic facilities such as health centres, roads, canals.

Official sources told The Express Tribune, however, that the government has not yet started a proper survey and is still working with rough estimates. “How will they start early recovery for individuals when a proper survey of houses has not been initiated?” this officer questioned.

The latest estimated loss is Rs464 billion, 11,000 houses, 7.3 million people displaced, 2.7 million acres of land and 393 lives lost.

Meanwhile, a meeting was held at CM House on post-flood strategy. According to a handout issued by the CM, the ministries of irrigation, agriculture and other departments have been told to come up with their proposals. There are orders from the president to speed up work within at least one week.  “We want to see the next crop very soon therefore priority should be given to agriculture, revenue and irrigation departments,” said the handout.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2010.