August 17, 2007	Friday	Sha’aban 3, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 16: National Disaster Management Authority on Thursday rejected the World Bank and Asian Development Bank damage estimates for areas affected by Cyclone Yemyin and flooding and sought their revision.

WB and ADB had led a damage and needs assessment study in Sindh and Balochistan to provide estimates of reconstruction and rehabilitation costs using the same methodology employed in their joint “2005 Pakistan earthquake damage and needs assessment”.

Sources claimed that the figures provided to NDMA by WB-ADB assessment mission were found to be “exaggerated”.

NDMA chief General Farooq Ahmed said he had asked for “rationalisation” of the figures provided by World Bank and ADB because some disparity was noticed between the WB-ADB figures and those coming from other sources including the provincial governments.

The estimates about losses presented by Sindh and Balochistan governments to NDMA had also been prepared on the basis of templates provided by the World Bank.

Agriculture and livestock sectors in both the provinces suffered the most because of the flooding that had followed Cyclone Yemyin, although the infrastructure including irrigation and communications network had also endured substantial losses.