Natural calamity: PM promises strategy to fight off floods
Visits flood-hit Wazirabad where PML-N workers scuffle with a crowd chanting ‘Go Nawaz, Go’.
WAZIRABAD:
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on a visit to this flood-hit industrial town of Gujranwala district, said on Wednesday that his government would work on a comprehensive strategy for prevention of massive floods that cause loss of precious lives and damage to property worth billions every year.
The trip of the prime minister – who was accompanied by his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other senior officials – was marred by a scuffle between a crowd chanting ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ and activists of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by the party’s local lawmaker.
Addressing a gathering at the launch of disbursement of first installment to the flood victims under Khadim-e-Punjab Relief Package, Premier Nawaz said that Pakistan was facing the brunt of climate change and stressed the need for a national committee on prevention of floods to examine the pattern of flooding.
He said the government was cognisant of the colossal losses caused by the recent rain-induced floods across the country. The government would take into account all factors that lead to flooding and would put in place a mechanism to avert recurrence, he added.
While mentioning paucity of resources, the prime minister said that his government had to take difficult decisions as many issues were on its priority list, including health, flood management, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons and flood victims, education and communication network.
The prime minister earlier interacted with the flood-affected people and inquired about their problems and whether they were satisfied or not with the relief and rehabilitation measures being provided by the government. He mentioned an elderly man, who could not even recognise him due to poor eyesight, but told him about his satisfaction over the government’s relief operation.
He lauded the efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for personally supervising rescue and relief efforts and for standing by the people uprooted by the catastrophic floods. No government in the past could even match this exemplary performance, he said and also appreciated the district administration and PML-N’s youth wing for serving the masses.
The prime minister also lauded the role of the armed forces, police, Rescue 1122 service, irrigation and agriculture department and said the close coordination by the chief minister helped in quick rescue and relief efforts.
When the prime minister and the chief minister were leaving the venue of the gathering, a crowd of protesters started shouting ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ – a slogan coined by Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) in its ongoing campaign against the government, according to Daily Express.
Local activists of the ruling PML-N, led by MPA Taufiq Butt and the party’s tehsil president Imran Mani, confronted them. They kicked and punched the protesters, forcing them to flee.
The protesters were angered by alleged discrimination in distribution of compensation money. Talking to the media after the incident, they alleged that the authorities showed nepotism and gave aid to only their relatives and kin.
After dispersing the protestors, the PML-N activists shouted slogans in favour of the prime minister and their party. MPA Taufiq Butt claimed that the protesters belonged to the PTI. However, Express News footage reveals that the man who led the protesters to chant anti-government slogans was a PML-N worker, Mushtaq Cheema, who is a resident of Khagga Mittir village. Cheema is also PML-N’s nominated candidate for union council.
Cheema exhorted people to chant ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ because he was not invited to the cheques-distribution ceremony and for being denied entry into the hall. Later the police raided Cheema’s house but found it locked while his mobile phone was also switched off.
Reacting to what she called ‘vandalism of PTI’, the prime minister’s daughter warned of similar tit-for-tat response in the future. “Seems PMLN workers have had enough of PTI vandalism. A tit for tat response & PTI won’t find a place to hide. Saw trailer in Wazirabad today,” Maryam Nawaz said in a post on micro-blogging site Twitter.
In another tweet she warned that “PMLN’s policy of restraint & civility must NOT be misinterpreted as its weakness. Don’t mess with lions!”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2014.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on a visit to this flood-hit industrial town of Gujranwala district, said on Wednesday that his government would work on a comprehensive strategy for prevention of massive floods that cause loss of precious lives and damage to property worth billions every year.
The trip of the prime minister – who was accompanied by his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other senior officials – was marred by a scuffle between a crowd chanting ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ and activists of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by the party’s local lawmaker.
Addressing a gathering at the launch of disbursement of first installment to the flood victims under Khadim-e-Punjab Relief Package, Premier Nawaz said that Pakistan was facing the brunt of climate change and stressed the need for a national committee on prevention of floods to examine the pattern of flooding.
He said the government was cognisant of the colossal losses caused by the recent rain-induced floods across the country. The government would take into account all factors that lead to flooding and would put in place a mechanism to avert recurrence, he added.
While mentioning paucity of resources, the prime minister said that his government had to take difficult decisions as many issues were on its priority list, including health, flood management, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons and flood victims, education and communication network.
The prime minister earlier interacted with the flood-affected people and inquired about their problems and whether they were satisfied or not with the relief and rehabilitation measures being provided by the government. He mentioned an elderly man, who could not even recognise him due to poor eyesight, but told him about his satisfaction over the government’s relief operation.
He lauded the efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for personally supervising rescue and relief efforts and for standing by the people uprooted by the catastrophic floods. No government in the past could even match this exemplary performance, he said and also appreciated the district administration and PML-N’s youth wing for serving the masses.
The prime minister also lauded the role of the armed forces, police, Rescue 1122 service, irrigation and agriculture department and said the close coordination by the chief minister helped in quick rescue and relief efforts.
When the prime minister and the chief minister were leaving the venue of the gathering, a crowd of protesters started shouting ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ – a slogan coined by Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) in its ongoing campaign against the government, according to Daily Express.
Local activists of the ruling PML-N, led by MPA Taufiq Butt and the party’s tehsil president Imran Mani, confronted them. They kicked and punched the protesters, forcing them to flee.
The protesters were angered by alleged discrimination in distribution of compensation money. Talking to the media after the incident, they alleged that the authorities showed nepotism and gave aid to only their relatives and kin.
After dispersing the protestors, the PML-N activists shouted slogans in favour of the prime minister and their party. MPA Taufiq Butt claimed that the protesters belonged to the PTI. However, Express News footage reveals that the man who led the protesters to chant anti-government slogans was a PML-N worker, Mushtaq Cheema, who is a resident of Khagga Mittir village. Cheema is also PML-N’s nominated candidate for union council.
Cheema exhorted people to chant ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ because he was not invited to the cheques-distribution ceremony and for being denied entry into the hall. Later the police raided Cheema’s house but found it locked while his mobile phone was also switched off.
Reacting to what she called ‘vandalism of PTI’, the prime minister’s daughter warned of similar tit-for-tat response in the future. “Seems PMLN workers have had enough of PTI vandalism. A tit for tat response & PTI won’t find a place to hide. Saw trailer in Wazirabad today,” Maryam Nawaz said in a post on micro-blogging site Twitter.
In another tweet she warned that “PMLN’s policy of restraint & civility must NOT be misinterpreted as its weakness. Don’t mess with lions!”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2014.