Compensation amount to be paid at homes not IDPs camp: Zardari دشت گردی کے متاثرین کو امدادی رقم ان گھروں میں ادا کی جائیگی۔ زرداری۔۔۔۔ صدر نے اس موقع پر لواری ٹنل منصوبےکے متعلق بھی دریافت کیا، انہوں نے کہا کہ یہ مصوبہ چترال کے لوگو ں کے لئے انتہائی اہم ہے۔۔۔۔۔
ISLAMABAD (SANA): President Asif Ali Zardari has said that with the announcement of return of displaced persons from next week the disbursement of relief fund to the affected families be carried out in the secured areas of Malakand rather than in the camps where they have taken temporary shelter. He said this during a meeting with a delegation of the MNAs and Senators from Malakand who called on the President in the Presidency Thursday.
The delegation included Mr. Najmuddin Khan, Minister for SAFRON, Mr. Lal Muhammad Khan Minister for Sepcial Initiatives, Senator Sardar Ali Khan, Mr. Istiqbal Khan, MNA, Mr. Muzafer ul Mulk, MNA, Syed Alla-ud-Din MNA, Engr Amir Muqam, MNA, Shahzada Muhiud Din , MNA, Mali Azmat Khan, MNA and Mrs Asma Alamgir, MNA besides senior government officials.
Briefing the media about the meeting Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the President observed that for the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase to pick up momentum it was important that notables, influentials and elders who had force migrated returned to their homes. This will give greater confidence to the ordinary people to feel secure on returning their homes, he said adding also,”elected representatives should take the lead”.
The President said that the government was in the process of setting up a dedicated organization on the pattern of Earthquake Relief and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) for planning, coordinating, executing and monitoring of the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the devastated areas. He said that he would advise the federal government to assign a well defined and clear cut role to the MNAs and Senators of Malakand regardless of their political affliations in this task.
Let there be no partisan politics and let every MNA and Senator of Malakand regardless of Party considerations also have the satisfaction of serving their constituents, he said. “Multiplicity in implementation also serves as an informal mechanism for accountability, oversight and healthy competition”.
The President said that women specific cards on the pattern of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) cards were also being considered for disbursement of reconstruction funds. This, he said would help institutionalise the reconstruction work and also empower women of the areas in new ways unheard of before.
The President inquired about the status of the Lowari tunnel project which he said was critical for the people of Chitral to travel southwards passing through the affected areas of Malakand and for promoting national integration. He directed that a special meeting be convened to consider ways and means to speed up the project. The President also called for devising a special development package for Chitral.
President Zardari complimented the government for lauching the project of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University at Shringle in Upper Dir by allocating 440 million rupees in the PSDP.
He said that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto believed that education was the most important weapon for defeating the militant mindset.
A state of the art University in the area will be the intellectual fort in Malakand to keep the flag of Pakistan flutter high, which she had warned in the last hour of her life was being lowered by the militants in Swat, he said.
The President directed that the University project be completed soon as a declaration of our intent that after the military fight we have taken the battle to the intellectual field. He also asked the federal minister of SAFRON from the areas Mr. Najmuddin Khan to keep him posted about the progress made in the University project. SANA News
