Small land-holders of 12.5 acres in Sindh who have been affected from floods will be given seeds and fertilizers or otherwise a sum of PKR5,000 per acre. The decision was made in a meeting of Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah with the World Bank’s Regional Director John Roome. John Roome was visiting the Sindh province after the recent floods to inspect the procedures put in place by the provincial government to conduct surveys of small farmers who lost their homes and crops.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Sindh, Sohail Rajput; Chairman P & D, Hassan Naqvi; PSCM, Fayaz Jatoi, and Abdelrazaq of the World Bank. World Bank Country Director, Najy Benhassine and his team participated in the meeting virtually. Murad Ali Shah said that the survey has been designed for the small land-holders’ inclusion in the Management Information System (MIS), specially designed for this purpose.

He added that the provincial government with the help from federal government will give PKR5,000 per acre to the affected farmers. World Bank has also pledged USD100 million for the rehabilitation purposes of the farmers. It has fixed the ceiling of land-holding at 12.5 acres for PKR5,000 to be disbursed. It was also decided in the meeting that more money should be provided to small-landholders so that they could purchase urea.

After the completion of survey, the CM said, the total number of eligible farmers will be known and the money will then be disbursed accordingly.The meeting also discussed the construction of houses destroyed in the floods. The World Bank has pledged USD110 million for this purpose. To carry out the task of rebuilding effectively, Peoples Housing Company has been created on the directions of the bank.

Syed Murad Ali Shah further said that PKR50 billion has been approved by his cabinet to start the housing project, adding that partner NGOs will be included in the system within a week to start the work immediately. Initial disbursement of PKR50,000 will be made to the affected people immediately so that they can start rebuilding their houses, the meeting decided. Remaining PKR250,000 will be given to them when their construction reaches the plinth level. The world bank regional director and his team expressed satisfaction with the procedure adopted by the provincial government.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk