Pak: Sindh Opposition leader accuses PPP of mismanaging flood relief funds

Objecting to the relief operation of the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) government in flood-hit areas of Sindh province of Pakistan, opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh on Sunday accused the ruling party of mishandling funds allocated to support flood victims.

Objecting to the relief operation of the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) government in flood-hit areas of Sindh province of Pakistan, opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh on Sunday accused the ruling party of mishandling funds allocated to support flood victims. Addressing a press conference in Sindh Assembly, he said, "Despite funding of billions of rupees, Johi-Dadu Main Nara Valley drain embankment could not be strengthened. Rice Canal, Hamal Lake and Manchhar Lake suffered breaches. Natural waterways like Puran Dhoro are blocked due to illegal encroachments. If the excess water of Manchhar Lake had been discharged without considering the constituency of Sindh chief minister earlier, heavy losses could have been decreased," reported Dawn.

Due to devastating floods, diseases like dengue are spreading fast in flood-affected areas, he said. "Planeloads of relief goods are coming every day, but no one knows where they are going," said the opposition leader. "Bilawal Zardari is said to have collected Rs130 billion in just one hour, but in whose pocket these funds have gone as flood victims have not received a rupee from this amount," Dawn reported quoting Sheikh as he alleged the Murad Ali Shah-led Sindh government for miseries of flood victims.

Sheikh also said that a number of humanitarian organisations have been working for the flood victims, but the Sindh government was seen nowhere while he accused Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon of misleading the people of Sindh through 'fake news'. Monsoon rains have submerged a third of Pakistan, claiming more than a thousand lives since June and unleashing powerful floods that have washed away swathes of vital crops and damaged or destroyed more than a million homes.

Officials have blamed climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world. Around 888 health facilities have been damaged in the country, of which 180 are completely damaged, leaving millions of people lacking access to health care and medical treatment in many areas, as reported by Dawn.

"According to a preliminary assessment conducted by WHO and humanitarian partners, the current level of devastation is much more severe than that caused by floods in Pakistan in previous years, including those that devastated the country in 2010," said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. "WHO has initiated an immediate response to treat the injured, provide life-saving supplies to health facilities, support mobile health teams, and prevent the spread of infectious diseases." (ANI)

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