PM urges philanthropists, friendly countries to facilitate rehabilitation of flood victims

ISLAMABAD, Dec 08 (NNI): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has formally inaugurated the residential units constructed for the flood victims of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan Districts.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony that was held in Islamabad on Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the philanthropists, business community, overseas Pakistanis and friendly countries to adopt this model of housing and help rehabilitation process of flood affected people.
The Prime Minister said on this pattern of housing scheme for flood-affected people, the chairman of a private bank has offered to construct two villages. He said one of these villages will be constructed in Sindh.
The Prime Minister appreciated all institutions and Ministries for playing their role in rescue and relief operations during monsoon floods.
Acknowledging the efforts of provinces and centre, the Prime Minister said the only way to deal with disasters is coordinated response and we must follow this practice in future.
The Prime Minister said around five billion rupees have been collected in Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund. He said after achieving the target of collecting ten billion rupees in fund, we will decide its effective utilization.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said with the efforts of the Prime Minister, an international conference will be held next month to showcase Pakistan’s plan for the rehabilitation of flood affected people.
He said world community will be urged to contribute for reconstructing houses in flood-hit areas of Pakistan.
He further said we will also highlight that the destruction we are facing now is not result of our actions but climate change is sole responsible for it in which our share is less than one percent.
The Minister also expressed hope that the government will succeed in its plan for the complete rehabilitation of 33 million flood affected people.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister distributed keys of fabricated houses, hospitals and schools.
It is pertinent to mention that this project has been completed in 24 days at total cost of 140 million rupees. NNI