Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, December 17. — Photo by AP

ISLAMABAD: China on Saturday announced a $10 million grant for the citizens compensation programme for flood victims and a $400 million concession loan to help meet their needs.

Speaking at the National Disastrous Management Authority (NDMA), Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said China would continue to help Pakistan in the post-disaster phase of the floods. China would also provide resources and technical support to Pakistan for disaster prevention and forecasting technology.

He said China had the expertise in dealing with situations like the Attabad lake and would send its experts to address the perils arising from the lake along the Karakoram Highway.

Jiabao said provision of disaster control and forecasting technology would help in better handling such situations in the future.

He said the major areas to be covered in his visit included the repairing of damaged infrastructure, roads and the rehabilitation of the flood victims.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani thanked the Chinese government and people in helping Pakistan in the critical hour.

Gilani said 20 million people were homeless due to the floods and the government was giving $1,250 to each affected family whose house had been damaged in the floods.

The Prime Minister appealed to the world to contribute to the government's national programme for cash compensation. He said that support in agriculture projects would be a source of relief for the flood victims.

Chairman NDMA Nadeem Ahmed briefed the Chinese premier on the loss of lives and infrastructure in the floods.

He said the floods affected over 20 million people and that 1,985 people were killed and over 3,000 injured. The total damages from the floods were worth $10 billion, including $5 billion losses in the agriculture and live stocks sectors, $1.5 billion in the housing sector and $1.3 billion in the communication sector, he added.

He said the rehabilitation phase had been started and it would take around five years to complete it.

Opinion

From hero to zero

From hero to zero

The infighting as the country tumbles from regime to regime and from set-up to set-up is so great that it infects everything around it.

Editorial

Relying on debt
Updated 03 Oct, 2023

Relying on debt

Sadly, the ruling military and civil elite haven’t grasped the seriousness of the economic crises.
Palestine abandoned
03 Oct, 2023

Palestine abandoned

IT appears to be only a matter of time before a normalisation deal is announced between Saudi Arabia and Israel....
Killjoys in Swat
03 Oct, 2023

Killjoys in Swat

IN yet another blow to women’s rights in Pakistan, a group of young, spirited girls seeking to participate in a...
Faizabad redux
Updated 02 Oct, 2023

Faizabad redux

TLP was allowed to flourish despite its virulent ideology, recurrently causing immense embarrassment for Pakistani authorities in later years.
Exporting beggars
02 Oct, 2023

Exporting beggars

A RECENT revelation by the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis during a briefing to the Senate has...
Brutalising society
02 Oct, 2023

Brutalising society

THE Senate Standing Committee on Interior passed a bill last week with a majority vote that favoured the public...