|
|
|
| May 29, 2005 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1426 |
UN voices concern over slow rehabilitation: Rain victims
PESHAWAR, May 28: The United Nations has expressed concern over the slow pace of progress in rehabilitation of people hit by rains and snowfall earlier this year and advised the government to approach donor agencies for help. “It’s pathetic that the government is reluctant to take rehabilitation measures for the affected people despite the fact that around 439 people were killed, 9,988 houses collapsed and 1,664 animals perished due to rains and snowfall,” a UN official told Dawn.
He said harsh weather had also disturbed the communication network in most parts of the province as roads connecting remote areas to main towns had either been blocked or washed away.
“Still there are no efforts to rebuild the roads destroyed by the rain and snowfall,” he added.
The UN, he said, had identified six districts — Upper and Lower Dir, Shangla, Swat, Mansehra and Battagram — as hard-hit and disaster-prone, but “the government has not made any appeal for help to international donor agencies”.
Quoting results of a survey conducted by Unicef, he said 60 per cent of people in Shangla, Dir and Battagram lived below poverty line, while 52.1 per cent children below five years of age in Kohistan suffer from malnourishment, 46.1 per cent in Upper Dir, 49.8 per cent in Battagram, 48 per cent in Shangla and 40.5 per cent in Lower Dir.
Keeping in view the dismal health scenario in these districts, the government should appeal to the international donor agencies for their help, he said.
“In affected districts, an outbreak of infectious diseases is witnessed,” he said, adding that various cases of jaundice and measles were reported from these districts after rain and snowfall.
The government, he said had given Rs100,000 each as compensation to heirs of dead people and Rs50,000 to the injured, but took no steps for the repair of roads, communication network and water channels.
Rain and snowfall that lashed the province from January to April this year, had caused 67 deaths in Swat, 42 in Mansehra and 57 in Mardan.
People who suffered loss of livestock and crops were yet to get any compensation, he said, adding that out of 1,664 cows 313 had perished in Kohistan, 288 in Mansehra and 235 in Karak.
Except for the health department, no government agency conducts surveys to ascertain the extent of losses and suggest redress measures.
According to officials, healthcare facilities in Shangla, Abbottabad and Malakand districts had suffered heavy damage and their repair required Rs9 million, whereas Swabi, Peshawar, Nowshera and Bannu districts needed Rs2 million each for revamping of infrastructure facilities. Similarly, Haripur, Charsadda and Hangu needed Rs1 million each for repair work, they added.
According to sources, most of these buildings house basic health units, civil hospitals, rural health centres and dispensaries. They said the government was not serious in undertaking repair work because it lacked resources.
BORSTAL INSTITUTES: A local NGO, Sparc, has asked NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani to immediately take steps to improve the state of children in prisons in the province.
Through a letter addressed to the chief minister, the NGO has asked for the enactment of a law on the pattern of Punjab Borstal Schools Act 1926 and Sindh Borstal Schools Act 1955 for smooth operation of the proposed borstal institutes in Peshawar, Bannu and Haripur.
It has also expressed concern over delay in completion of construction work of borstal institutes in Peshawar and Bannu and transformation of Adolescent Training Centre in Haripur Jail into a borstal institute.
|
|
|
|
