ISLAMABAD: Three different committees of Senate and the National Assembly will be meeting in the next three days to review the country’s economic situation in the wake of prevailing political crisis and recent floods.
The committees will also receive briefings from officials and departments concerned on the rescue and relief work being carried out in flood-hit areas of the country.
The 15-member Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue headed by Senator Nasreen Jalil of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) will be meeting on Friday to receive a detailed briefing from officials of the ministry “on the economic impacts of the current political crisis and floods”, according to the agenda of the meeting a copy of which is available with Dawn.
Being an ex-officio member, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is also expected to attend the meeting and give replies to queries of the members belonging to almost all political parties having representation in Senate.
Senate committee to be briefed ‘on the economic impacts of the current political crisis and floods’
A number of government functionaries, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, on a number of occasions have publicly admitted that the country had been suffering economic losses because of the protest sit-ins of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) in Islamabad’s Red Zone area, which have been continuing for the past 40 days.
The committee members will also receive briefing about the losses the country has suffered due to recent floods and the steps being taken by the government for relief and rehabilitation work.
Prominent members of the committee are Ilyas Bilour and Haji Adeel of the Awami National Party, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain of PML-Q, former finance minister Salim Mandviwala and Sughra Imam of the PPP, Talha Mehmood of the JUI-F and Kulsoom Parveen of the BNP-A.
Meanwhile, Senate Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs will be meeting on Wednesday to seek details of losses of human life, livestock and damage caused to property, roads and infrastructure by recent heavy rains and floods in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The members of the committee headed by Baz Muhammad Khan will also be briefed on the preventive measures taken to avoid such calamity and the rescue and rehabilitation activities being carried out in flood-stricken areas of the AJK.
Besides this, officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will brief members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Thursday on the flood-affected areas in the country.
The cabinet secretariat committee on the second day will review security measures at the country’s airports after the recent terror incidents in Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta.
Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2014
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