ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister and Spokesperson of PPP Parliamentarians Shazia Marri on Wednesday said 40 per cent of the agri workforce has suffered due to the catastrophe of the floods. In a press briefing, Marri said the destruction due to floods in the country is in front of the world.
The country has not experienced such a major disaster before and 33 million people have been affected. Two million houses have been destroyed due to the floods.
The road system in the country is badly damaged. In the meeting of the United Nations, the prime minister and the foreign minister presented their views to the world. The government has made its voice known to the whole world, she added.
There was a discussion on the flood disasters and its solution in the cabinet meeting, she said. Pakistan’s share in carbon emissions is 0.8 per cent. There are countries in the world where carbon emissions are very high. Pakistan is just suffering the consequences, the minister said.
The number of displaced people in Pakistan is equal to the population of the major countries of the world. Some friendly countries have also helped Pakistan. She said there has been positive progress in the meetings held in the United Nations.
Pakistan currently needs 30 billion dollars to deal with flood disasters, she said, while adding that we also have to look at our debt burden. Poverty has increased due to floods. The prime minister had announced that he would provide 25,000 rupees per house.
So far assistance has been provided to 0.21 million households in the flood-affected areas. She said 52.35 billion rupees have been distributed under the BISP.
The BISP has worked on the ground so quickly for the first time in history, she said. In the next few days, money will be distributed among 0.65 million more families. In some areas there have been suspicious complaints against which action has been taken, she further added.
BISP is providing special nutritious food (SNF) to pregnant women and lactating women 0.9 million will be provided SNF. So far, this food has been distributed to 7,000 children and 7,000 mothers.
While responding to PTI chairman Imran Khan’s audio lead regarding cipher, she said Imran Khan’s cipher story has been “proven to be a lie”. Imran Khan’s main agenda is to mislead people, Marri added. Regarding the cipher, Imran Khan has stuck himself in what he said in that recording.
Imran Khan should not play with the country to get back into power. Imran Khan says that we should not name America, we just have to play with the conspiracy thing. This matter was so serious that you should not have played on it, the minister said.
She said the PTI activists tweet like some people who are plotting against the country tweet and these tweets by the PTI activists are liked and retweeted across India. It is to be seen who is currently promoting the interests of anti-national elements, she added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022