Hands over keys of residential units to flood victims
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday the federal government distributed Rs70 billion to the provinces’ flood victims under the Benazir Income Support Programme.
Addressing the launch ceremony of prefabricated residential units in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, PM Shehbaz appealed to philanthropists including industrialists, and expatriates to support the government’s flood rehabilitation efforts by replicating the model of building100-unit prefabricated houses for flood victims.
The prime minister urged the affluent to adopt the flood-hit people of Balochistan and Sindh by providing them the infrastructure equipped with necessary facilities.
The prime minister in September had announced to construct residential units for the people of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, who were displaced by the massive flashfloods in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. The project worth Rs 140 million was carried out as a gesture of philanthropy by Menzies Aviation and former special assistant to prime minister on aviation Captain Shujaat Azeem.
He said that the people of the SAARC countries are “victims of these missed opportunities”, adding that Pakistan is ready to play its role in reviving the organisation.
The SAARC Charter Day is observed every year on December 8 and this year marks the 38th anniversary of the association.
On this day in 1985, the SAARC Charter was adopted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during the first summit of the group.
The charter was signed by the leaders of eight South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,0 Pakistan and Sri Lanka.