Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Thursday announced finalizing a Master Plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the flood affected areas by July 15.
“It has been agreed [by the special committee formed by the PM] that the Ministry of Planning sit together after the budget [passage] and finalize the $16.3 billion Master Plan of reconstruction and rehabilitation of the flood affected areas tentatively by July 15,” he made this announcement on floor of the National Assembly. He said the government had allocated sufficient funds in the budget to execute projects of urgent nature in flood-affected areas. The minister said immediate rescue and relief work had been done throughout the country with disbursement of Rs80 billion through the BISP programme, adding almost Rs100 billion had already been spent in addition to the assistance extended by National Disaster Management Authority in kind.
On urgent basis, he said the relief goods had been taken from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) store, and the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet recently approved Rs12 billion to replenish its stock, keeping in view the predicted threats of the monsoon and the cyclone.
He said a comprehensive report had been prepared in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Union and the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, following the widespread destruction caused by the heavy rains and floods in 2022. The report calculated that Pakistan collectively suffered over $30 billion in economic and physical loss.
He said funds amounting to $16.3 billion were required to execute the physical work like repair of damaged houses and infrastructure, under the ‘4RF’ strategy i.e. resilient recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. The estimate was for the projects to be completed in 4 to 5 years, he added.
Ishaq Dar clarified that 50 per cent expenses of reconstruction and rehabilitation work would be borne by the federal government and 50 percent by the respective province.
Roughly $11 billion, out of $16.3 billion would be spent in Sindh, and the rest in the flood-affected areas of Balochistan and Southern Punjab on the basis of inflicted losses, under the 4RF policy, he added.
In the Geneva Donors Conference, the minister said around $8 billion in pledges was made but they lacked details that which donor would provide assistance in what field. Sharing some details of the urgent nature projects to be carried out in the Sindh province, he said a Flood Emergency Housing Scheme for Sindh to be executed at a cost of $727 million, for which Rs 500 billion had been earmarked in the next fiscal year, out of which Rs 25 billion each would be provided by the federal government and the Sindh Government. Similarly, he said Rs 6 billion were required for the water supply projects and the Federal and Sindh government share would be Rs 3 billion each. Likewise, the finance minister said Rs 11.9 billion were required for the construction, repair and rehabilitation of 1,800 schools affected by the flood and its expense would be equally shared by the federal and provincial governments.
He said the projects in Balochistan and southern Punjab will also be completed on the same basis because a report on the flood-affected areas had been prepared by a team of international experts.
Ishaq Dar said the budget for the Benazir Income Support Program had been increased from Rs 250 billion to Rs 450 billion in a short span of 14 months, which reflected the incumbent government’s commitment to help needy segments of the society. He appreciated Minister for Poverty Alleviation Shazia Marri for doing a great job for the welfare of the needy and mitigating their financial sufferings. The finance minister recalled that it was the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government that gave the idea of ‘hand-handling’ of deserving women and allocated Rs34 billion in 2008. “So, the BISP is my brainchild which has been expanded from Rs34 billion allocation to Rs450 billion.”
