Legislators of Southern Punjab on Saturday called for early restoration of irrigation channels, infrastructure, schools, colleges, and hospitals and agriculture sector destroyed in recent floods in the province to help people stand on their feet again.
The legislators were participating in a debate on the relief activities initiated after the devastating floods in the districts of Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Rahimyarkhan. Jamshed Khan Dasti, MNA, Irshad Rasul Siyal MPA, Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, MNA, Muazzam Ali Jatoi, MNA and Malik Jawad Khar MPA alleged discrepancies in the data collected by government machinery regarding the losses occurred due to floods. They also said many mozas were ignored in distribution of relief goods, saying that despite destruction of hundreds of houses, only 100 tents were provided.
Anjuman Kashtkaran Punjab President, Peerzada Abdul Ali Zakir Usmani called for restoration of confidence of donors to attract foreign assistance. He said rains and flood played havoc with the agriculture sector. He said that the sowing season of wheat has arrived and urged the government to direct departments of communication & works and agricultural engineering to provide machinery for rehabilitating affected agricultural farms.
He expressed reservations over the mismanagement and misappropriation in distribution of relief goods by Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). In majority of the areas, he added, the authority has failed in providing the announced relief goods.
Usmani called for constitution of committees comprising of District Co-ordination Officers (DCOs) of the concerned districts and members of the provincial assembly to probe the alleged irregularities. He also demanded of the government for directing the executive engineers of communication & works department for immediate preparation of PC-I of the bridges and roads washed away by floods.
Sharing his views on the occasion, Jamshed Khan Dasti MNA said the country faced severe devastation as floods wrecked infrastructure. He said funds for different schemes are to be provided by donor agencies, saying delaying of commencement of work shook their confidence in the machinery of the country. In this regard, Dasti pointed that a number of schools were demolished for reconstruction, but this never took place, which ultimately resulted in lukewarm response by the donors.
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