Prime Minister Imran Khan told the federal cabinet on Tuesday that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had been tasked in collaboration with the provincial governments to make assessment about the flood losses across the country so that a comprehensive relief strategy could be formulated for the victims.
Briefing media persons about the cabinet decisions, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said the NDMA would present its report of assessment of losses and then the cabinet would decide about the financial package. He said the situation in the interior Sindh was even worse than Karachi. There was no political point scoring, rather it was an unfortunate tale of destruction in rural Sindh, including Larkana, he added.
The minister said the losses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to floods were minimal as the provincial government had learnt lessons from the past experiences and taken in time precautionary measures. He said the people from both rural and urban areas of Sindh were suffering as they were treated by the provincial government with one yardstick. The federal government would provide all possible help to the Sindh people after assessment of losses.
Shibli quoted the PM as saying that Karachi was the engine of Pakistan’s economic growth and its development was the development of the country, and that was why the federal government was determined to play its role for the resolution of problems of Karachi people. He said the cabinet approved the proposal of starting a ferry service for religious pilgrims (Zaireen). It was an initiative of the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, and customs and immigration facilities would be provided at Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar ports.
He said the Power Division submitted its report on reforms in the power sector and approval was given to the proposal of closing inefficient power plants.
The minister said the cabinet constituted a committee for looking into the ban on provision of power and gas connections to unapproved societies and buildings in the capital. The committee comprising the Commissioner Islamabad and IESCO officials would suggest measures to remove hurdles in that regard.
Shibli Faraz said that the cabinet approved expanding the network of Panagahs (shelter homes) across the country to facilitate the downtrodden and homeless people. He said the cabinet was informed that the government had paid Rs 1.1 billion outstanding dues to the media houses and now a mechanism had been evolved for timely payments in future.
He said the cabinet okayed issuance of a no objection certificate (NOC) for the construction of a new LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal at Port Qasim, while the Petroleum Division would ensure that quota would be given to its operators on first-come, first-serve basis in the existing and new gas pipelines.
He said the Annual Report of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority for 2018-19 and State of Industry Report 2019 were presented to the cabinet. It was stressed that as a result of the issues settled with the IPPs (independent power producers), steps should be taken for future action to provide relief to the people, he added.
As regards the appointment of new IGP in Punjab, Shibli Faraz said the yardstick was performance and ability to deliver, and whosoever would not deliver the government would replace him.
