Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, has said that there is a strong possibility of a disease outbreak in the flood-affected areas of Pakistan in the next four to six weeks.
The Minister, while addressing a press conference, said that Pakistan is going to appeal to the international community together with the United Nations today to provide support to the country during these testing times.
The Minister said that 1,150 deaths have occurred so far as a result of ongoing floods. More than 1 million homes have been destroyed, while 30 million people have been directly or indirectly affected, causing a loss of more than $10 billion to Pakistan, he added.
The Minister highlighted that Pakistan is facing a serious food security challenge, as the cotton, rice crop and date plantations have been destroyed in Sindh and Balochistan, causing a major loss to the agricultural economy of both provinces. He added that the government is actively looking to arrange the replacement of essential commodities, including tomatoes and onions.
Ahsan Iqbal, while urging the business community and overseas Pakistanis to donate to flood victims, said that government would spend maximum development funds for the betterment of flood victims.
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Long story short:
1. The planning Minister knows what everyone knows i.e. diseases can breakout in flood hit regions
2. Planning minister asks people to help
3. Planning minister asks foreign countries for help
My question, where is the planning minister’s plan to help the people affected by floods? A minister should be able to do more than just tell the facts and ask for help, this is a job anyone can do, so what value is a Minister adding? He is taking all these funds and salary just so that he can ask people for help and tell us what we already know?