- Directs joint survey to ascertain losses in flood-hit Balochistan
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday visited the grieved family of Commander 12 Corps late Lt-Gen Sarfraz Ali who was martyred in a helicopter crash took place recently in Lasbella area of Balochistan, to express condolence.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb accompanied the prime minister.
The prime minister offered Fateha for the departed soul and condoled with the bereaved family.”Our martyrs are our pride. The soldiers and officers of Pakistan armed forces never hesitated to sacrifice their lives to safeguard their motherland,” he remarked. He said be it was war against terrorists or any natural calamity, the soldiers and the officers of the Pakistan armed forces acted as protectors of the nation.
The prime minister said the whole nation, including he himself, paid tribute to the martyrs for their sacrifices. Earlier on August 14, the prime minister also visited the family of Major Talha Manan Shaheed for condolence who was also among those martyred in the chopper crash.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed that a joint survey to ascertain losses caused by recent floods should commence from Balochistan as provision of immediate relief and rehabilitation of the flood affectees were the top priorities of the government.
The prime minister was chairing an important follow-up meeting about the relief and rehabilitation operations in the flood-affected areas.
The meeting was apprised in detail that the objective of the joint survey was to collect data about the loss of lives, damaged houses, shops, crops and animals which would help ensure transparency, improvement and the pace in the rehabilitation efforts, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
The meeting was chaired by federal ministers including Ahsan Iqbal, Maulana Asad Mahmood, Miftah Ismail, Special Assistant to PM Ahad Cheema, NDMA Chairman Lt-Gen Akhtar Nawaz and the relevant authorities. Special Assistant to PM on Kashmir Qamar Zaman Kaira attended the meeting via video link.
Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister said the government would ensure transparency in the support and rehabilitation mechanism of the affectees and resolved that he would not rest till the last deserving person got his due right.
He also directed that affected people should be immediately provided with financial support through a digital system and under the supervision of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
It was informed that the survey would first commence in the flood-affected areas of Balochistan province.
The survey would commence from August 20 and it would be ensured to complete it by September 22 this year. Moreover, the financial support under Benazir Income Support Programme would be distributed through the biometric system which would be supervised by the NDMA.
The prime minister directed the implementation of these measures immediately.
