HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday distributed ownership documents of houses among victims of 2022 rains and flooding at a ceremony held in Mirpurkhas district.
These houses have been rebuilt under the Sindh Peoples Housing for Flood Affectees (SPHF), a Sindh government owned company.
Bilawal arrived at Shujabad taluka’s Ghumbri village, and Ghulam Mustafa Leghari and Wagharji villages of taluka Kot Ghulam Mohammad.
He spoke to the beneficiaries, took selfies with them and congratulated them on owning their own houses. He said he could indeed realise their pain and sufferings of 2022 flooding. “These houses are for you and nobody can take away the same,” he told them in his conversation with them. Chatting informally and sitting on a cot in one house, allotted to Lachman, he asked his child how he feels about their new abodes.
He handed over proprietary rights to women folk of each household while telling them that they were the owners of these houses. He was warmly welcomed by inhabitants of the villages.
“We watched you on television sets so far and we don’t believe that you are amongst us now”, one resident told Bilawal. He replied that “you people have faced tough conditions but the government had promised that your damaged houses would be rebuilt. “I am here to fulfil my promise today,” he said.
He spoke to a woman briefly. “Today this house is legally yours and hopefully you will hand over its ownership document to your son when he becomes adult,” he said while alluding to her son, Dilip.
He was happy to see the decoration of utensils in a typical rural lifestyle of a village. Some residents told him in delight that they have furnished their house themselves and Bilawal replied that he would like to visit their homes; that’s why he was here. He said the Sindh government had built many houses and more would follow.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Culture Minister Zulfikar Ali Shah, Home Minister Zia Lanjar and others were also present.
Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2025