A minister’s home ground : Lower Dir receives no help from government

Taskforce commandant says packages have been dispatched.

LOWER DIR: No rehabilitation process has been started in Talash village in Lower Dir.

According to locals, the village was destroyed in the October 26 earthquake and four days later, people are still without any shelter, without any assistance from the government. The village comprised 30 houses out of which 10 were destroyed and the rest were partially damaged.

Sadiq, Noor Muhammad, Ayaz and Salim, residents of Talash village, complained the government and other authorities were indifferent to their plight. “Three days have passed and not a single piece of aid or welfare team has reached us,” Sadiq said. “We are living under the open sky and are miserable,” Ayaz added.

A minister’s district

They said even though Minister for Finance Muzzafar Said, who is from Jamaat-e-Islami, is from Lower Dir, the government has not sent any form of aid for the calamity-struck people.

On Wednesday, JI Central Ameer Sirajul Haq had said his party divided the affected areas into three zones. He said Senior Minister Inayatullah will supervise relief activities in Upper Dir and Chitral while Finance Minister Muzaffar Said will oversee relief activities in Lower Dir. “Minister for Zakat Habibur Rahman will manage relief efforts in Shangla, Swat and Buner,” Siraj said.

Immediate assistance

The residents of Talash urged the government to send immediate help. They requested medicines, tents and food.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Dir Taskforce Commandant Colonel Khalid Shafi said, food, tents and other basic amenities have already been dispatched to Lower Dir and people of Talash village will receive them soon.

“We have sent packages to assist them and will continue to work to facilitate them in their time of need,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2015.