ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's prime minister on Wednesday promised the country's homeless people that the government will ensure they are paid to rebuild and return to their lives after the country's worst-ever floods.
With winter is just weeks away, half a million people are living in camps after being displaced by the flood, which destroyed 1.7 million homes. So far, the government’s priority has been to deliver food, tents and cash to the victims. The floods have killed 1,481 people since mid-June and affected 33 million.
“We will do our best to financially help you so that you can rebuild homes" and return to a normal life, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif told several families living in tents and makeshift homes in the town of Suhbatpur in Baluchistan. “Those who lost homes and crops will get compensation from the government," he said in his televised comments.
Sharif also told dozens of school children, who were studying in a tent with help from the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF in the town of Suhbatpur, that they will get a new school in the next two months.
The floods have destroyed 70 percent of wheat, cotton and other crops in Pakistan. Initially, Pakistan estimated that the floods caused $10 billion in damages, but now the government says the economic toll is far greater. The United Nations has urged the international community, especially those responsible for climate change, to send more help to Pakistan.
The monsoon rains have swept away entire villages, bridges and roads, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. At one point, a third of the country’s territory was inundated with water.
Multiple experts have blamed climate change for unprecedented rain-related damages in Pakistan.
Also Wednesday, Pakistan's minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, told a gathering of lawmakers from the Asia Pacific in the capital, Islamabad that right now the entire world is facing a threat from climate change which, she said, “knows no border."
She called for reducing emissions to save other countries from the damage that her country is facing now.
Meanwhile, the first planeload of aid from Saudi Arabia arrived in Pakistan overnight.
So far, U.N. agencies and various countries, including the United States, have sent about 90 planeloads of aid.
Pakistani premier promises compensation for flood victims
https://arab.news/yzmak
Pakistani premier promises compensation for flood victims
- The floods have destroyed 70 percent of wheat, cotton and other crops in Pakistan
- Monsoon rains have swept away entire villages, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless
Privatization Commission backs military-linked firm’s inclusion in PIA buyer consortium
- Fauji Fertilizer nominated to join Arif Habib-led group bidding for national airline
- Move marks further step in IMF-backed state enterprise reforms
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Privatization Commission on Tuesday recommended the inclusion of a military-linked fertilizer company in the consortium led by Arif Habib Corporation Limited, the successful bidder for a majority stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as the government advances long-delayed reforms of state-owned enterprises.
The development is part of Pakistan’s broader privatization push under its $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility approved in September 2024, which requires restructuring and divestment of loss-making state-owned enterprises. PIA has accumulated significant losses over the years and remains a financial burden on the national exchequer.
In December, a consortium headed by the Arif Habib Corporation emerged as the top bidder for a 75 percent stake in Pakistan International Airlines in a breakthrough for the government’s long-delayed privatization of the carrier. The consortium entered a 135 billion Pakistani rupee ($482.32 million) bid, topping the offer of a rival group led by Lucky Cement in an intense back and forth that was broadcast live on television.
The Privatization Commission on Tuesday endorsed the nomination of Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC) to join the consortium led by Arif Habib.
“The PC Board, after due review, endorsed the nomination and confirmed that FFC fulfils the applicable eligibility and regulatory requirements,” the Ministry of Privatization said in a statement.
The proposed inclusion remains subject to approval by the Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) and the federal cabinet.
FFC is one of Pakistan’s largest listed fertilizer manufacturers and is majority-owned by the Fauji Foundation, a military welfare organization that operates commercial enterprises to fund services for retired armed forces personnel and their families. Its inclusion strengthens the financial profile of the bidding consortium.
The sale of a majority stake in PIA would mark the first major privatization in Pakistan in nearly two decades.
But the process has been shaky. A similar televised event in 2024 attracted a solitary bid from real estate developer Blue World City of $36 million, well short of the government’s declared minimum price of $305 million for a 60 percent stake.
As part of its efforts to revive the flag carrier airline, Pakistan’s government has assumed most of its legacy debt.
PIA has now posted its first pre-tax profit in two decades, and Britain and the European Union have lifted a five-year ban that had shut it out of key routes, supporting a higher valuation.
