Pakistani premier promises compensation for flood victims

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Wednesday promised the country’s homeless people that the government will ensure they are paid to rebuild and return to their lives after the country’s worst-ever floods.

With winter is just weeks away, half a million people are living in camps camps after being displaced by the flood, which destroyed 1.7 million homes. So far, the government’s priority has been to deliver food, tents and cash to the victims. The floods have killed 1,481 people since mid-June and affected 33 million.

“We will do our best to financially help you so that you can rebuild homes” and return to a normal life, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif told several families living in tents and makeshift homes in the town of Suhbatpur in Balochistan.

“Those who lost homes and crops will get compensation from the government,” he said in his televised comments.

Sharif also told dozens of school children, who were studying in a tent with help from the UN children’s agency Unicef in the town of Suhbatpur, that they will get a new school in the next two months.

The floods have destroyed 70 per cent of wheat, cotton and other crops in Pakistan. Initially, Pakistan estimated that the floods caused $10 billion in damages, but now the government says the economic toll is far greater. The United Nations has urged the international community, especially those responsible for climate change, to send more help to Pakistan.

The monsoon rains have swept away entire villages, bridges and roads, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. At one point, a third of the country’s territory was inundated with water.

Multiple experts have blamed climate change for unprecedented rain-related damages in Pakistan.

Also Wednesday, Pakistan’s minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, told a gathering of lawmakers from the Asia Pacific in the capital, Islamabad that right now the entire world is facing a threat from climate change which, she said, ``knows no border.”

She called for reducing emissions to save other countries from the damage that her country is facing now.

Meanwhile, the first planeload of aid from Saudi Arabia arrived in Pakistan overnight.

So far, UN agencies and various countries, including the United States, have sent about 90 planeloads of aid.

Second Saudi relief goods plane arrives in Karachi

Meanwhile, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief)’s second airlift of relief goods arrived in Karachi from Riyadh on Wednesday.

The first airlift arrived at the same destination on Tuesday night. Each airlift carried 90 tonnes of food, medical supplies and shelters to support the flood victims.

Both of the airlifts would benefit 19,000 people.

Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al Malki said the purpose of this emergency aid was to address the drastic impacts of flooding on various cities, towns and villages of Pakistan.

He said the delivery of aid reflects the strong historical ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Besides Saudi ambassador, Consul General, Karachi, Bandar Al Dayel, and provincial minister for Labour and Information and Human Resources, Saeed Ghani were present at the airport to receive the aid.

The KSrelief, provides comprehensive and impartial aid to vulnerable communities around the world. This airlift is just an example of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to providing urgent support to countries facing crises such as Pakistan is being experienced these days. To date, the KSrelief has implemented 2,086 humanitarian projects in 86 countries, saving and improving the lives of millions of people in need.