Flood calamity: 2nd phase of compensation payments from today

Rs11.72 billion will be distributed among the affected.

LAHORE:

Punjab government’s Spokesman Zaeem Hussain Qadri said on Sunday that the second phase of compensation for those affected by the recent floods would begin on November 10 following a directive by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Qadri was speaking to journalists at the Chief Minister’s office. He said Rs11.72 billion would be distributed in the second phase. Qadri said Rs4.3 billion had been distributed among the affectees in the first scheme. He said this would bring the total amount of compensation to nearly Rs16 billion.



Qadri said the affected would be provided compensation by pay orders. He said 59 centres had been established in this regard across the Punjab. Qadri said lawmakers had been directed to monitor the payments. He said the federal government had provided half the funds. Qadri said the government would provide Rs10,000 to a person each from the affected families to enable them to start businesses.

He said financial assistance was being distributed. Qadri said a third-party audit had also been commissioned to ensure that the funds were not misappropriated. He said the second phase would be completed in 15 days. Qadri said committees had been set-up in the affected districts to address any complaints in this regard.

The Board of Revenue Senior Member Nadeem Ashraf provided a comprehensive breakdown of the payments. He said counters of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Bank of Punjab had been set-up at the distribution centres.

He said the affected families could collect the compensation by pay order from any branch of United Bank Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Muslim Commercial Bank, the National Bank of Pakistan and the Bank of Punjab. The official said the pay orders would remain valid for six months.

He said the government had conducted the largest relief operation in the history of the Punjab. The official said 286 people had been killed in the floods.

He said Rs1.6 million had been paid to the family of the deceased each. The official said 90,600 tents and 200,000 food hampers had also been distributed among the affected. He said 23,000 mosquito nets, 2.5 million water purifying tablets, 2.3 million mineral water bottles had been distributed among the affectees.

The official said 1.5 million kilogrammes of fodder for livestock had also been provided by the government. He said the government had provided the district coordination officers (DCOs) of 16 districts with Rs2.23 billion to ensure that relief activities were immediately carried out in the affected areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2014.