Chief Minister (CM) of the Sindh province Syed Murad Ali Shah and the USIAD Pakistan Mission Director, Reed Aeschliman, decided to launch a Green Cooperation program for the rehabilitation of flood-affected farmers. The Green Cooperation program will see the government of Sindh collaborating with the USAID Pakistan to help the farmers revive their livelihoods, in addition to the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure in the province after the recent floods.

During the meeting, Murad Ali Shah said that the floods had killed 800 people in the province, with 8,422 people injured. He said that a total of 2,044,844 houses were damaged with 436,435 livestock perished. He further informed the meeting that crops standing over an area of 3,777,272 acres have been washed away, and a total of 19,808 school buildings and 1,045 health facilities were also damaged. He added that the total losses to the irrigation system in Sindh amounted to PKR 95 billion.

He continued, “we need a total of PKR 1,688 billion (USD 7.860 billion) for the reconstruction efforts. This represents 67.60% of the total province-specific needs estimates.” Murad Ali Shah said that donors had pledged an amount of PKR 379.56 billion, which fell short of the required amount by at least PKR 1,308.44 billion for the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. USAID Pakistan Mission Director, Reed Aeschliman said that his organization will help the growers by supporting them in purchasing seeds, pesticides, and urea to start their cultivation.

He also said that the water courses will also be repaired by the USAID.  The USAID will finalize the rehabilitation plan with the P&D department of the government of Sindh. Murad Ali Shah also informed the meeting that the World Bank had pledged a sum of USD 500 million while his own government had set aside PKR 50 million for rehabilitation purposes, adding that the total cost of rebuilding the destroyed homes will alone be PKR 570.167 billion.

He added that for the reconstruction of 19,808 schools, PKR 97.84 billion will be required and PKR 21.93 billion for the reconstruction of health facilities. Reed Aeschliman said that USAID will aid the Sindh government in any area where funds fell short, including housing, education, health and infrastructure. A meeting between the Chairman P&D, Hassan Naqvi and his team was fixed with the USAID team to finalize the modalities for repairing, renovating and overhauling the educational and health facilities.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk