PESHAWAR, June 6: The NWFP government’s repeated requests to the federal authorities concerned for the provision of funds to help it pay compensation to scores of families affected by the torrential rains in different parts of the province during the outgoing financial year remained unattended, according to official sources.
The federal government’s emergency relief cell, established in the cabinet division, was moved for the provision of funds to pay compensation to the affected families in the province.
A large number of families in more than 10 districts of the province suffered losses to their property requiring the provincial government to pay over Rs90m in compensation to the flood victims.
However, against over Rs130m required by the provincial government to pay compensation, it could arrange only Rs18m, with claims amounting to Rs112m of the affected families being left unattended.
In some of the cases, said the official sources, the claimants were waiting to see their claims honoured for over 10 months.
The chief minister’s announcement of ensuring early payment of compensation to the affected families, and that the family of every person killed in torrential rains and flood will be paid Rs100,000 instead of Rs50,000, has not been fulfilled.
In accordance with the rates of compensation determined in 1997, the family of ‘breadwinner’ — expired due to floods — was supposed to be paid Rs50,000.
However, in line with the chief minister’s announcement the families of all those killed in floods in January and February, were supposed to be paid Rs100,000 as compensation for every ‘breadwinner’ lost.
Sources said as per the chief minister’s decision the provincial government was required to arrange Rs6.3m more to pay compensation at the enhanced rate, making the government to arrange a total of Rs118.3m to honour all the claims registered.
“The provincial government is not in a position to arrange the funds following which the matter was taken up with the federal government’s emergency relief cell,” said the sources.
In place of honouring the provincial government’s requests, the federal government’s emergency relief cell, said the sources, directed the provincial authorities concerned to provide it with the audited accounts of the Rs20m funds Islamabad provided to the NWFP last year for payment of compensation to the flood affectees of Daadar, district Mansehra.
In the light of federal authorities’ response to the provincial request, the district revenue officer, Mansehra had recently been asked to provide the audited accounts.
However, the same report could not be provided to the federal authorities after the Mansehra district’s revenue officer had informed the provincial authorities that audit of the accounts of Rs20m spent last year among the Daadar’s affectees had not yet been done by the office of Auditor General, NWFP.
Following the Mansehra’s district government’s reply, the director auditor general, NWFP, said the sources, had been moved to arrange audit of the said accounts so that the required information could be passed on to the federal government’s emergency relief cell.
The provincial authorities’ request to the chief minister Akram Khan Durrani for the release of Rs110 million from his personal fund to settle the issue of paying compensation also remained unattended.