KARACHI: Reconstruction of the houses that were razed in flash floods last year in in Sindh and Balochistan is still a distant dream and the government should release the requisite funds to the affected people for repair and reconstruction of their damaged houses, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Sunday.
He said in Sindh alone one million people were displaced and more than 50000 houses damaged in the October 2022 mega floods but the affected people are yet to compensated.
He said Pakistan got pledges of heavy assistance from the international community and the government itself had also earmarked funds for the rehabilitation of the distressed people but practically no solid step has yet been taken regarding the reconstruction of the damaged structures.
Altaf Shakoor said the government has simply forgotten the flood-hit people and is least concerned about their plights. He said the climate change is still a big threat to Pakistan but no precautionary efforts are being taken in this regard. He said on one hand the country faces water shortages and droughts and on the other hands heavy rains cause floods and drown people. He said new dams and flood canals are not being constructed to deal with this serious issue because our ruler have got some other priorities than taking
care of the basic problems facing the nation and country.
He said in fact our rulers are just pseudo rulers as the actual policies are being formed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). These international lenders in fact are our real rulers. They govern us like modern versions of the East India Company. He said unless the killer ‘debt trap’ is broken we can’t get a real freedom and continued to be a colonized country. He said the government has no idea, as well as, intention of how to get rid of this debt trap. He said our political parties also don’t have the issue of the debt trap on their priority lists.
Altaf Shakoor said that the rehabilitation of the flood hit areas is still a pending item and it should be given a serious and urgent consideration along with an early release of funds. He said Pakistan is an agricultural country and the mega floods of October 2022 had crippled our agriculture sector, which need to be revived on fast track basis. He said in fact the agricultural sector is the only sector which has the capacity of generating millions of new jobs and resolving the issue of food inflation for good in Pakistan. He said the vast arid and semi-arid areas of Pakistan could be turned into green farmlands by use of drip irrigation and other modern technologies. He said new dams; reservoirs and flood canals could help in saving water in case of heavy rains and floods and make it available for farming purpose. He said all this is practical and possible if the government is serious and sincere towards this cause.
Altaf Shakoor appealed the caretaker government, chief justice of Pakistan and chief of the army staff to take notice of the delay in reconstruction of the flood-damaged houses and ensure the needful to help the affected people.
