Contributions for the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams from the overseas Pakistanis have shown that they are least interested in the project, a report in the local media said on Saturday.
According to the status of receipt, up till Nov 7, total contributions amount to Rs7.481 billion. And out of Rs7.481 billion, Rs6.6781 billion has been received domestically while the overseas Pakistanis have so far donated only Rs803,695,339 or approximately Rs0.8 billion.
The status of receipt has not been updated after Nov 7 despite the SC’s order that the status of the data shall be updated on daily basis.
It is expected that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar will meet overseas Pakistanis in UK to shed light on water scarcity issue in Pakistan and convince them to make contributions to the dam fund. The CJ will leave for UK on November 20.
According to the data available on the website, donations have come from overseas Pakistanis living in 51 different countries across the world.
However, officials believe that Pakistanis living abroad are keen to donate funds but are facing different hurdles because limited Pakistani banks have their branches established abroad. In order to sort out the technical issues, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has directed the Governor State Bank of Pakistan to resolve these issues so that overseas Pakistanis easily transfer their donations.