Former Chairman of National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) Daniyal Aziz has called upon the government to announce an early date for local government election at this crucial juncture when what he said people in villages are surrounded by heavy floods and the government has failed to cope with the disaster.
He was speaking here at Dhamdamo and Halaji camps on the occasion of food distribution among flood victims on Tuesday. According to a press release the Local Council Association (LCA), Sindh chapter, civil society organisations (CSOs) as well as district press and bar bodies under the umbrella of Jeevay Pakistan Jeevay Maqami-Hakoomat (JPJM) distributed food and relief items among the most deserving flood-ravaged people.
LCA Sindh President Raheela Magsi, LCA Khyber Paktoonkhwa President Yousaf Ayub, LCA Balochistan President Mir Maqbool Lehri, civil society activists, district press club and bar representatives were also present on the occasion The JPJM has formed committees comprising LCAs ...a body comprising former local government representatives at union, town, Tehsil and district council level....CSOs, Citizen Community Boards and district press & bar associations in the most affected districts for the monitoring of funds' utilisation and food distribution.
These committees have prepared a unanimous list of 600 most deserving families from Thatta district to provide them food and relief items. The JPJM, in its first phase, is going to distribute food and other relief items worth Rs 35 million among the flood victims and devised a foolproof mechanism for this purpose to ensure transparency.
Speaking on the occasion, Daniyal Aziz said that local government representatives will not leave their calamity-hit brethren alone in these testing time. "We have evolved a comprehensive strategy for food distribution and funds utilisation and no one can point finger on it," he said. He invited media to monitor the mechanism and give suggestions as how to improve it if there is any flaw.
Had there been local governments in place, there would been no difficulty in coping with the crisis, he said, adding that today the situation is worse and the government has left flood-stricken people on the mercy of administrators and patwaris.
He demanded of the rulers to restore local governments or hold fresh local government elections and hand over the responsibility concerning relief and rehabilitation to the local leadership. "It is a proven fact that the local representatives are always more responsible to handle the catastrophe because they are answerable directly to people of their respective areas," he added. He said in the next phase we would formulate a citizen based system comprising elders of the area and would concentrate on rebuilding and rehabilitation activity.-PR
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