Bilawal asks govt to release WB’s funds for flood victims in dollars

QUETTA: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday asked the federal government to release the World Bank’s loan of $400 million for the flood victims in Sindh and Balochistan in dollars.

Talking to the media in Quetta, Bilawal explained that when he was a foreign minister he visited the World Bank office along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and sought their assistance for flood victims. “My special efforts made the release of that fund from the World Bank possible,” Bilawal said.

 He also highlighted that “I also brought to the country €700 million from the European Union (EU) for flood victims.

However, he said, the federal government provided it to the victims in Pakistani currency which is an injustice to the people of both Sindh and Balochistan.

Bilawal said that this amount was aimed only at constructing houses and providing land for the flood-affected people. And the Sindh government is fairly using that.

He urged the federal government to take the flood-affected peoples’ issues seriously and collaborate to reconstruct the affected areas in both the provinces.

Also Read: Video: Bilawal makes another gaffe at Karachi event

He said, “I will continue to cooperate with the federal government and plea for more foreign funds if they treat the flood victims in the two provinces fairly”. He said that donors don’t agree to facilitate such funds if a host country mistreats the affected victims.

The PPP chief also said that the reconstruction in interior Sindh has already started and it has already been outsourced to ensure transparency.

Talking about reconstruction in Balochistan, he questioned “Why such construction is not being carried out by the federal government in Balochsitan.” He said that that was not fair.