ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan cannot address this catastrophe of flood alone, and we need at least $16.3 million to be dealt with the affected areas.
Ahead Geneva, PM write an article published in ‘the Guardian’, the Britain-based Newspaper, where he said the apocalyptic rains and floods that had hit Pakistan last summer claimed 1,700 lives, left a swathe of territory the size of Switzerland underwater, and affected 33 million people – more people than live in most European countries.
“Pakistan is suffering not just from flooding but from recurring climate extremes, earlier in spring 2022, the country was in the grip of a scorching, drought-aggravating heatwave that caused forest fires in the west,” said PM
According to the article, the fact that some of the same areas that received record temperatures were subsequently submerged underlines the sharp swings in weather patterns that are becoming a norm
However, the Prime Minister thanked to friendly country and the international community to help in a critical time of Pakistan.
Post-flood Reconstruction, Rehabilitation
“We will also present a comprehensive road map for post-flood reconstruction and rehabilitation, developed with the assistance of the World Bank, the UN, the Asian Development Bank, and the EU,” Premier
Hence the Premier said, “the first part relates to meeting the immediate challenges of recovery and reconstruction, requiring minimum funding of $16.3bn over three years.”
“The Pakistan would meet half the funding from its resources. But we will count on the continued assistance of our bilateral and multilateral partners to bridge the gap.”
The second part of the contribution to Pakistan’s reconstruction and rehabilitation outlines Pakistan’s long-term vision for building climate resilience.
This would require an investment of $13.5bn over 10 years. Building better communications infrastructure and a more robust irrigation system, and designing efficient early warning systems to mitigate the effects of future natural disasters is not a luxury for Pakistan but an absolute imperative.
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