Summary
- Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, stated that he secured a loan of $400 million for flood victims, which the federal government has kept in its own pockets.
- Bilawal stated that the project has been outsourced to maintain transparency, with funding coming from both the World Bank and the Sindh government, and also secured from the federal government.
- He called on provincial and federal governments to take the issue of flood victims seriously, urging the federal government to contract with outsourced companies and NGOs to build homes that would withstand future floods.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, stated that he secured a loan of $400 million for flood victims, which the federal government has kept in its own pockets.
While addressing a ceremony in Quetta, he urged that the federal government’s share should be allocated to Sindh. Whether it’s the $400 million loan from the World Bank or ongoing World Bank projects in Sindh, or the €700 million aid announced by the European Union, all this funding was collected by me as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, standing alongside the Prime Minister and appealing for international assistance.
He mentioned that there are ongoing projects in Sindh for housing and road rehabilitation in collaboration with the World Bank.
The housing project, which I proposed to the World Bank, aims to provide shelter to the homeless and also grant them land ownership.
Work has already commenced, and this money has not been handed over to any federal or provincial bureaucrat; it is being safeguarded by the provincial Planning and Development Department.
Bilawal stated that the project has been outsourced to maintain transparency, with funding coming from both the World Bank and the Sindh government, and also secured from the federal government.
He questioned why such promises could not be fulfilled for Balochistan, deeming it an injustice to the province.
He emphasized that the $400 million loan I secured from the World Bank is being kept by the federal government while they are giving us rupees, which they claim they will utilize.
Despite the passage of years, the federal government has yet to build a single house for flood victims.
He urged that this money should be delivered to flood victims and that the federal government should collaborate with the Sindh planning minister to assist them.
The provincial and federal governments should aid flood victims before seeking international support.
Bilawal asserted that if both the provincial and federal governments contribute to flood relief and are willing to prove it internationally, he is prepared to secure further funding for Pakistan from global financial institutions. However, this is not happening, and the objective remains unfulfilled.
He called on provincial and federal governments to take the issue of flood victims seriously, urging the federal government to contract with outsourced companies and NGOs to build homes that would withstand future floods.
He highlighted that the flood victims in Balochistan are facing injustice and need urgent assistance, urging that promises must be fulfilled.
Bilawal also remarked that if the government’s handling of aid post-flood continues as it has, international organizations will look to past actions when providing aid in the future.
He stressed the importance of including Balochistan’s funds in aid allocations and ending the discriminatory treatment of flood victims in the province.
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