Swat residents dissatisfied with rehabilitation scheme

Watan Card distribution begins in Swat and Buner, flood victims dissatisfied with sum of money.

SWAT: The distribution of Watan cards among flood victims has begun in Swat and Buner. The inaugural distribution was overseen on Friday by members of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and elders of the area at the Commissioner House in Saidu Sharif, Swat.

The objective of the card is to ensure initial payment of Rs20,000 to each flood-affected family for the sake of rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Afzal Khan Lala of the Awami National Party (ANP) proposed that the government extend full support to Swat Valley as the area was among those worst hit by the flood.

“Tourism and agriculture, the two main economic sectors of Swat,  were virtually destroyed. All roads used by tourists to travel to Kalam were destroyed and almost all agricultural land ruined.”

Stressing the need for fair distribution of the card, he said, “The government should make sure the Watan card reaches those who really deserve it. They should also extend a proper plan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Swat soon.”

Flood victims are dissatisfied though with the sum of money they are getting through the Watan card, saying Rs20,000 is barely enough to cover their needs.

Some flood survivors complained that it was unfair that the distribution of cards was begun in Mingora and not from the more remote Kalam Valley where they lived. “We are more deserving.

They should have given us the cards first. The survey is completely wrong since 80 per cent of the deserving are unlisted,” one of them said.

Juma Gul, one of the beneficiaries of the card, told The Express Tribune, “My furnished house caved in when the floods hit. They have given me this ATM card worth Rs20,000. One can’t even buy a goat from this sum. How will I be able to construct a house with this money?”

Gul, a resident of the Hazara area of Kabal, told The Express Tribune, “I have 30 members in my family and had a house with 10 rooms, which lies in rubbles now. It was washed away in the flood, and since then, we have been living with my son-in-law,” adding, “Instead of carrying out reconstruction, the government deceived us by handing out Rs20,000. They should reconstruct our houses.”

According to the official schedule issued for the distribution of the Watan cards, the flood victims of Khwaza Khela tehsil and Charbagh will get their cards on October  21, those from the sub-division of Bahrain and Kalam will receive their cards from October  22 to 27, flood survivors from Matta sub-division will receive their cards on October 28 and 29, those from Babuzai tehsil will receive their cards from November 1 to 5, while those from Barikot tehsil and Kabal will get their cards on November  6.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2010.