Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has directed the government functionaries to expedite rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in the flood-affected areas and asked them to also engage private sector for achieving the objective.
Speaking at a briefing on the recent floods in the NWFP and Fata, the Prime Minister said the strategy of provision of rescue, relief and rehabilitation was adopted in the October 2005 devastating earthquake in NWFP and Azad Kashmir.
He categorically said that no foreign loan would be secured for the rehabilitation of the flood-affected people and assured that emergency needs of the affected people would be fulfilled on priority basis.
Shaukat Aziz said that provision of food, shelter, medical cover and evacuation of the stranded people from the flood areas was top priority of the government. He stressed the need for more co-ordinated efforts between the federal, provincial and local governments to ensure prompt supply of relief goods to the affected people.
He said that short and long-term measures were being taken to redress the real problems of resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected. He directed the administration to focus on the right things in emergency situation.
"Since our economic situation is stable and the kitty is full to meet the financial requirements of the calamity hit people, therefore, we need not to beg for loan", he said.
The Prime Minister said the reallocation of the resources would be made to carry out relief activities. "We would have faced extremely difficult situation if our economy was of the level of eight years ago", he observed.
FLOODS TOLL RISES TO 220 Authorities stepped up efforts on Tuesday to provide aid to two million people affected by a cyclone and floods in southern parts of the country, as the death toll rose to at least 220. Military helicopters airdropped more food and other relief supplies in swamped parts of Balochistan and Sindh provinces amid clearer weather and falling water levels.
Balochistan home secretary Tariq Ayub said that three to seven days of food had been provided to flood-affected people so that in case of more rain no survivors should go hungry. Ali Gul Kurd, the deputy relief commissioner for Balochistan, said there were no reports of any disease epidemics despite the large region flooded since Cyclone Yemyin hit the region a week ago.
"We have sufficient supplies of food, medicines, anti-(snake) venom kits and water purification tablets," Kurd said. At least two people have already died of snake-bites in the affected region.
Ten civilian medical teams are waiting to fly out as soon as more helicopters are available, but navy and army medical teams had already reached there, Kurd said. "The area is very large and around two million people are affected, we require more helicopters," he said. Meanwhile the meteorological department said that more rains forecast to hit the south would not be as bad as expected.
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