Advising the provincial government to carry out audits of machinery and pumps recently deployed by different departments for dewatering floodwaters in Sindh, President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday recommended the authorities concerned to make a complete inventory of the equipment in use for future reference.
He presided over two separate briefings held at the Bilawal House on flood rehabilitation and rebuilding of damaged roads and other projects in the province.
The meetings were attended by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, provincial ministers Murad Ali Shah, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Ali Nawaz Shah, Agha Siraj Durrani, Manzoor Wasan, Haji Muzaffar Shujrah, Shazia Marri, Adviser Sharmila Farooqi, MNA Mehreen Anwar Raja and SAPM on water resources Kamal Majeedullah among other senior officials concerned.
“It is necessary that a complete resource picture is available in case of floods emergency [in the future],” the president said, adding that the task may be entrusted to the Sindh Public Accounts Committee chairman.
Stressing the need for building ponds to store floodwaters for future use, the president said that sites for the ponds can be easily identified with the help of Google maps.
According to the Presidential Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar, it was informed during the meeting that to date 99 percent of the flood-displaced population has returned home, while more than 97 percent accumulated water has been drained out and 98 percent Watan Card holders have been paid over Rs 6 billion by the Sindh government.
Nearly 1,150 mm rainfall was recorded, resulting in inundation of over 18,591 square km and affecting more than 9 million people in 23 districts.
In Sindh, the National Highway Authority is working on 13 projects including 660 km road construction and one major bridge on the Indus River. Out of these, over 50 percent work has been completed on eight projects while the remaining five projects will also be completed during the period between March 2012 and December 2013.
The signing of the ‘concession agreement’ for conversion of Karachi-Hyderabad four-lane highway into a six-lane motorway (M-9) with a Malaysian firm is also in its final stages.
In October, during a meeting on the M-9 project held at the Presidency in Islamabad, the president had directed the federal and provincial finance ministers to hold meetings with the authorities concerned to finalise the modalities for the up-gradation of Karachi-Hyderabad Highway into a motorway within 15 months.
President Zardari had also proposed undertaking the project on Public-Private Partnership and Build, Operate and Own bases; or the project be split into sections and subsections to facilitate subcontracting for swift completion.
Babar also said that the ongoing relief phase would end by December 31 and replaced by the initiation of Early Recovery Phase (ERP) from January next year. “The ERP involves further improvements in sectors such as health, education, water and sanitation, nutrition, food security, protection, shelter, and community infrastructure,” he said, adding that the departments concerned are already coordinating with UN agencies and donors for finalisation of short-term projects.
