ISLAMABAD: Amid disasters, National Disasters Management Authority
(NDMA) is facing acute financial crises as its officials cannot visit
the flood-hit areas without some sponsor by foreign organizations due
to financial constraints.
Sources informed Online on Sunday that NDMA is not able to bear any expenses except salaries of its employees.
National
Disaster Management Authority has provided goods of millions by sale
out or credit to the flood affected areas in Sindh and not a single
penny it had to pay in cash for the goods, the sources added.
When
contacted for his official version, Chairman of NDMA Zafar Iqbal Qadir
confirmed that NDMA was lacking financial resources but never stopped
assisting the affected people in flood-hit areas.
“We were
facing financial crises but on Saturday the Special Parliamentary
Committee formed by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani for flood
relief and assessing damages approved Rs 1.5 billion for immediate
payment of the bills of the goods on credit,” he further said.
Nevertheless,
he declined to comment on the issue of having no finances for NDMA
officials’ visit to field and its need of foreign sponsors for
supporting the official trip to the flood hit areas. Instead the
chairman said that a request for more money up to Rs 5 billion to Rs. 6
billion would be forwarded to the government so that phase of relief in
the devastating areas could be facilitated.
The sources also
informed that NDMA had no money at hand for relief and Rs6 billion to
Rs7 billion of which the chairman repeatedly claimed had never been in
possession of the Authority.
NDMA spokesman Ahmad Kamal told
Online that out of Rs 1.5 billion about 0.5 billion were approved by
the prime minister as well as released and his organization would
receive it hopefully today (Monday) but Rs1 billion would be paid
later.
However, he said what NDMA had at hand was only the
non-development budget of Rs93 million for year 2011 and a major
portion of it is for salaries and operating expenses of the
organization.
When the officials were asked about other phases
after relief for example recovery, Qadir said Rs6 billion to Rs7
billion were needed for relief alone that would continue for a month
ahead and the recovery phase would demand enough amount that would be
requested after final assessment.
Though the UN has vowed to provide over $3 00 million yet Pakistan would need up to $1 billion for relief and recovery.
The
sources informed that reconstructing of roads, other part of
infrastructure and reconstruction of houses as well as rehabilitation
would need a lot of money and NDMA is aware of that but it still faces
financial problems. It is pertinent to mention that floods hit Southern
part of the country and destroyed its agriculture when Pakistan is
passing through financial crises besides the massive dengue attack
across Punjab and other provinces. Online
