FFC told to revise funds distribution formula

Commission asked to make allocations based on the vulnerability of a province.

ISLAMABAD: In a move to cope with the destruction caused by flash floods in the wake of monsoon rains, Senate’s standing committee on water and power on Thursday recommended that the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) should reallocate funds for the provinces basing them on their vulnerability rather than their population.

This recommendation has been made keeping in view the allocation of 45 per cent funds made to Punjab, which suffers the least damage in comparison to other provinces during monsoon. Monsoon floods since 2010 have caused mass destruction in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, Balochistan and Sindh.

The committee during Thursday’s meeting asked FFC to revise its formula and prioritise it on the basis of the province rather than its population size.

During the course of the meeting, it was suggested that the commission consult the authorities concerned and revise the mechanism of the distribution of funds.  “We want to allocate funds on the basis of demands and requirement irrespective of the population as the damages of the flash floods have nothing to do with the population”, chairman of the committee Senator Zahid Khan said.

Representatives of the smaller provinces complained that the required funds from the allocated share are not released timely which creates problems for the provinces.

Officials of the FFC said that only Rs600 million have so far been released out of the total allocation of Rs1 billion.

They said there was a need to further increase the funds and the demand has risen up to Rs4 billion. The officials added that this allocation is only used for routine projects; the commission, however, has no emergency fund.

The committee asked the FFC and provincial irrigation departments to sit together and develop a new mechanism. The committee will later ask the federal government to implement the recommendations.