President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday advised Sindh government to create a separate ministry for overseeing the flood rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the province. He was addressing a meeting of the Sindh ministers belonging to PPP here at the Bilawal House.
Briefing newsmen about the meeting, Chief Minister's Advisor on Information Ms Sharmila Farooqui said the President was of the opinion that the task of rehabilitation is gigantic and a separate ministry is needed to amicably handle this job.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, provincial ministers and senior federal and provincial government officials attended the meeting which reviewed the performance of various departments of the provincial government, law and order situation, the recent spate of alleged targeted killings, the flood relief measures and issues relating to coalition in the province.
She said President Zardari also asked the Sindh ministers belonging to PPP to step up their contacts with the masses and address their problems by holding open katcheries to brace for the local bodies elections which would be held in not too distant future in consultation with coalition partners and stakeholders.
Provincial ministers Zulfiqar Mirza, Manzoor Wassan, Siraj Durrani, Syed Murad Ali Shah and Ali Nawaz Shah gave presentations about their respective ministries. The President also advised the provincial government to expedite legislation to reinstate those provincial employees who were sacked after the removal of PPP government in 1996 for political reasons, as has been done by the federal government in respect of federal employees.
The meeting was also briefed about the latest status of flood rehabilitation and reconstruction measures and the issues involved in it. The President asked the provincial government to make adequate provisions for meeting the adverse impact of coming winter on the flood victims and rehabilitation efforts.
Replying to a question on alleged target killing, she said that this matter is addressed with the help of two-pronged strategy. At political level, we are trying to discuss and resolve this issue in our core committee meetings. Through administrative management, we are arresting the culprits with the help of law enforcement agencies and the Rangers have so far arrested 150 persons including six alleged target killers.