PM earmarks Rs200b for housing sector

NDMA chairman says flood survivors in all provinces, except Sindh, have returned home.

ISLAMABAD: With the country entering a recovery phase in order to deal with the after-effects of the recent flood, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday announced that the federal government will earmark Rs200 billion for the reconstruction of houses destroyed in the catastrophe.

Chairing a meeting to review the relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction strategy in the calamity-hit areas, the premier directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to coordinate with all the concerned ministries in the federal and provincial governments in order to get their proposals for the strategy before the next meeting of the Council of Common Interest.

NDMA Chairman Nadeem Ahmad said that despite resource constraints, the situation arising as a result of flood was managed well. He said that flood survivors in all other provinces except Sindh have returned home adding that nearly 87 per cent of the displaced persons belonging to Sindh are still homeless. Ahmed informed the meeting that 3,614 flood relief camps are still operational in the province whereas all other relief camps in other provinces have been shut down.

During the meeting, secretary health stated that recently the Global Fund — an international financing institution that invests the world’s money to save lives — has given $13.45 million for measures to control a possible spread of malaria in the flood-hit areas while $32 million will be received from WHO as soon as an assessment report on the disaster is compiled.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2010.