PTI under fire for ineffective response to earthquake

PESHAWAR:

As rain and snowfall hit parts of the province, particularly the earthquake-affected areas, opposition members criticised the government for its lack of urgency in the matter. Monday’s session of the K-P Assembly took place after the last two sessions were under 16 minutes collectively, mostly due to a lack of government MPAs.

Awami National Party (ANP) Parliamentary Leader Sardar Hussain Babak demanded the government survey earthquake-affected areas again as the previous damages assessment surveys were “prejudiced” where genuine earthquake victims were ignored. “The survey has been based on nepotism; a lot of people have objections,” said Babak, referring to houses left out of the assessment.

Babak rejected the compensation package announced for those who have damaged residences. He asked the government to do the math and see if the affectees could build even one room with the money given. “At this point, we don’t want to hear any political statement from the government because that would be adding insult to injury,” he added



Babak also lashed out at the government departments responding to natural disasters, saying they were not prepared to deal with emergency situations. “They were all not on the same page while dispersing information,” he said. Babak praised the people of Punjab and Sindh for rejecting PTI in local government poll and hoped ANP would wipeout PTI from the province in the
near future.

PTI answers

Defending the provincial government, Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Atif Khan said, “If someone wants to discuss the earthquake, we are open to talk about it but it is unfair to use the people affected by earthquake as means to rekindle party rivalries.”

Regarding the package, he said, “It was announced jointly with the federal government and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has worked efficiently in response.” About redoing the survey, Atif said Pakistan Army officials were present while the survey was being conducted so as to authenticate all information and ensure all areas were covered. Atif said the government is open for talks with the opposition to improve relief activities.

Rebuttle

ANP MPA Jafar Shah and Babak submitted an adjournment motion on November 10 to discuss the government’s role in the relief activities post floods and quake. This was discussed in Monday’s session and will be revisited on Tuesday (today).

Jafar said the government should not get emotional and accept it has failed to deliver. “Hundreds of people in Dir, Swat, Torghar, Battagram and Buner have taken to the streets. The protests show the government has failed, something it should admit,” added Shah.

Atif Khan beats the heat

Earlier in the Q&A session, Atif came under fire from Jafar and other opposition members for failing to complete the construction of schools and dams, and filling vacant posts of teachers.

Atif said, “We filled 12,500 posts in 2014, and in 2015, we created 10,000 more vacancies, which will be filled this year. Regarding the delay in dams, Atif said stay orders from the court and site identification delayed construction. “If any member has any idea about a site with capacity for a dam, we will get there and construct one,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th,  2015.