Says international donors conference will be held in Islamabad in November |Government will review National Flood Protection Programme to avert climate change disasters.
ISLAMABAD - Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal in the National Assembly proceedings feared that that the PTI chief Imran Khan might have spent donations collected for flood victims on the election campaign of October by-polls.
“Our focus was on relief activities for flood victims,” said the minister, adding that they put politics on one side and worked for relief and rescue activities. The PML-N in October by-polls faced defeat.
About the flood devastations, he said, damages of properties, livestock and human lives could have been reduced if the previous government continued to take forward flood protection programme.
The minister said that incumbent government would share infrastructure strategy with the world and development partners before the international donors conference. “The PTI’s government in its tenure had not spent a single penny on infrastructure programme,” he said, adding that Pakistan with coordination of international development partners had finalised ‘Post Disaster Need Assessment’ which estimated Pakistan’s damages at 32 billion dollars due to devastating flood.
The need assessment being prepared jointly by Pakistan, World Bank, UNDP, Asian Development Bank and others would be completed by October 24, this year.
He said that an international donors conference would be held in Islamabad in November. The minister said that government would review the National Flood Protection Programme to avert climate change disasters.
“Our quick response was appreciated by the world,” he said. About relief work, the minister added that Ministries of Railways, Communications and Power Division and subordinate departments worked tremendously in restoration of rail and road network. He said that on directives of the Prime Minister, a total of Rs 70 billion under BISP were being disbursed among affected people out of which around 80percebt had been distributed.
He told the house that Punjab and KP governments refused to accept offer of the Federal Government regarding distribution of wheat seed among affected growers
