Lahore: A year after floods devastated
many parts of Pakistan, lawmakers in Punjab province are
grossly unsatisfied with the rehabilitation work undertaken by
the government and by local and foreign NGOs and allege
widescale corruption.
"NGOs did 90 per cent corruption in rehabilitation and
livelihood schemes for flood victims in Muzaffargarh district
of Punjab province," said Jamshed Ahmad Dasti, a
parliamentarian of the ruling Pakistan People`s Party.
Dasti, whose constituency was affected by the floods,
alleged that "blackmailers and officials" were involved in
corruption.
He appealed to Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar
Chaudhry to initiate action against those responsible for the
alleged graft.
Those named in a judicial commission`s report for
breaching a dyke and the destruction of 589 villages in Punjab
should be brought to justice, Dasti demanded.
Malik Ahmad Yar Hunjra, a provincial legislator of the
dissident faction of the PML-Q, too alleged that NGOs were
involved in corruption as they had taken national identity
cards from flood victims on the pretext that they were doing
surveys and would give them rations, cash and fertilizers.
Nawabzada Iftikhar Ahmad, a PML-N leader from an area
affected by floods, said that since the government had not
conducted an audit of the NGOs, no one knew the real working
of these organisations.
"The NGOs are working for affected people but I have
not seen anyone who was satisfied with the working of these
NGOs," he said.
Allah Wasaya, a flood victim of Mauza Hunjrai in
Muzaffarghar, said the breach of a dyke occurred in his area
on July 30 last year and he sent his family to Muzaffargarh
city, where they lived in a school.
"My house was washed away. Later, an NGO contacted me
and promised to rebuild my house. I gave my family`s national
identity cards to the NGO`s representatives," he said.
Wasaya later went to the local lawmaker for shelter
and took a cottage.
"I was very happy when the Chief Minister came to our
village last year and announced model houses would be built.
But his promise has not materialised. Now my family and I are
building a mud house," he said.
PTI
