August 12, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 9, 1429

MULTAN, Aug 11: The status of suspended officers of Rajanpur district is yet unclear as they are performing their duties even five days after their suspension from service was ordered by the chief minister while appointment of new incumbents is also yet to take place.

On Aug 6, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had suspended all district officers and irrigation officers, except Health EDO Dr Shahnaz Hussain and DPO Dr Rizwan Ahmed, from service for negligence in helping out flood victims.

The chief minister had announced the suspension of all these officers not only during his visit to the flood-hit areas in Rajanpur but also during his press conference at Multan Airport before leaving for Islamabad the same evening.

Rajanpur DCO Muhammad Amin Chaudhry confirmed that all the officers suspended from service were still performing their duties while the government had not appointed new officers as yet.

About the status of the suspended officers, the DCO said that he had not received any directives so far and the Punjab chief secretary alone could confirm the status of these officers. Chief Secretary Javaid Mehmood was not available for comment.

According to official claims, 139 villages and 510,000 acres, including 190,000 acres of farmlands, were inundated by the floodwaters of hill torrents. Similarly, 3,473 mud houses were destroyed and six people were died while thousands of others were left homeless in the flood-hit areas. Contrary to this, independent sources believe that the loss was much more than official claims.

Muslim Hands Pakistan project manager Kamran Sharif told Dawn that 15 out of 22 union councils of Rajanpur district were the worse-hit areas.

He said that nine people had died, thousands of houses demolished, cotton crop and livestock worth billions of rupees swept away and communication system destroyed.

He said that his NGO had distributed 500 packets of dry food, including ghee, sugar, flour and other items, while 1,500 more packets would be distributed among the flood victims.

He said they were also planning to provide shelter and medical aid to the affected people.