Minister for Textiles Makhdoom Shahabuddin on Thursday embarrassed the treasury benches during the national assembly (NA) session by stating that people should pray to God before every monsoon season to save it from flooding as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has no plan to avoid floods.
During the NA Question Hour, Shahabuddin said the government will begin the rehabilitation process in flood hit areas after January 2012 after the United Nations (UN) and NDMA will complete their damage reassessment.
NA Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza observed that even though winter had started, flood victims were still waiting for camps and blankets in Sindh. She directed the minister to summon a meeting of the of the provincial disaster management authority immediately to resolve the matter.
Remittances improving: Responding to a question, Minister of State for Production Khawaja Sheraz responding on the behalf of Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, told the NA that the total amount of foreign exchange sent to Pakistan during the years 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 (July-October) by Pakistanis settled abroad was US $ 38.68 billion.
Sheraz said the government shared the expense incurred in sending money to Pakistan. He said the government had succeeded in stopping remittances from coming through the ‘hundi system,’ which improved conditions.
Responding to a supplementary question on agricultural sector projects, Sheraz said the 18th amendment had devolved the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to provinces and the projected had been shifted to them.
‘Rs 24.44 in tax per litre of petrol:’ To a question, ‘how much tax is collected per litre of petrol?,’ the Minister submitted a written statement detailing that Rs 24.44 per litre in tax was collected from the consumer price of Rs 87.95 per litre. He said this includes a petroleum levy of Rs12.31 per litre and sales tax of Rs12.13 per litre.
Asked ‘how much funds had international donors/financers provided Pakistan for power sector projects since March 2008?,’ the Minister in a written reply submitted the amount obtained (disbursed) against the agreements from 1 March 2008 to 31 October, 2011 was $ 734.84 million. He said $ 98.46 million was received from international donors against 15 agreements during the first quarter of the financial year 2011-12.
He predicted an economic recovery citing progress in economy sectors during first quarter of the current fiscal year.