KARACHI: Chairman People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that with the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, including houses, roads, and the Irrigation system, employment opportunities would generate to reduce poverty ratio which has increased after heavy downpours and floods in the province.
“I want the provincial government to speed up the construction works that would serve as a source of employment also,” he said while pressing over a high-level meeting here at CM House. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, provincial ministers, advisors, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman P and D Hassan Naqvi, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, provincial secretaries, and others.
The Chief Minister briefing the chairman PPP, said that Sindh was in dire need of $7.86 billion to reconstruct/overhaul the damaged infrastructure of the different sectors. He added that the damage assessment and preliminary estimates showed that 55% of the total housing sector worth Rs570.167 billion had been damaged.
Similarly, other damages are 10 percent of the education sector worth Rs97.848 billion, nine percent of each irrigation and road network worth Rs94.781 billion and Rs94.344 billion respectively, five percent of the local government’s water and sanitation worth Rs53.54 billion, one percent of water and sanitation of Public Health Engineering worth Rs9.872 billion, two percent of health infrastructure worth Rs21.934 billion, four percent of livestock, poultry and fisheries worth Rs46.053 billion, two percent of the road network of the local government worth Rs16.2 percent, and three percent others worth Rs46.053 billion.
Bilawal said that COVID-19 followed by floods 2022 had badly affected the provincial economy. He added that the poverty ratio had been recorded at 43 percent with 75.5 percent in rural areas.
The PPP chief urged the provincial government to finalize all the official procedures and mechanisms and start the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure in all the damaged sectors. “This is the only way to create employment for the people and this is bound to reduce the poverty ratio,” he said.
The chief minister briefed the chairman about the cabinet decision to start the construction of houses for which Rs50 billion have been approved. At this, Mr. Bilawal directed the CM to start construction latest by end of November. He said that the entire kharif crop was washed away by the floods, therefore the people in the rural areas not only lost their houses but cash crops.
Mr. Bilawal said that the first relief the people of rural areas would feel was when they would be reimbursed the money, they spent on purchasing seed and urea for the Rabi crop. “They would heave a sign of relief when the crops would be harvested,” he observed and went on to say with the start of construction work on the damaged infrastructure would create employment at various levels.
Chairman PPP said that he would take up the case of Sindh again to the international community. He hoped that they would help the Sindh government to rehabilitate the affected people. He said that he would again review the progress of the disbursement of money for seed and urea and starting of construction works at the end of this month.