Punjab banks on locals in donors conference

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

By Jawwad Rizvi
LAHORE
The Punjab government is banking on the local donors in the upcoming Donor Conference, not pining high hopes on the international community.
The government has decided to present the situation of 204 flood affected villages of seven districts of the province. With 96,447 affected housing units of the seven districts, some villages are partially while others completely damaged.
According to the Punjab government calculation, the average cost of a village with 100 housing units is Rs 30 million. Thus, for 204 model villages, the government needs over Rs 6 billion from the donors participating in the conference. The News has learnt that the government has invited over 400 potential local and foreign donors in the conference, with main focus on the local helping hands.
The government will offer the donors to adopt any model village program and make the arrangements for the construction of the damaged houses of the adopted villages. Different models of Model Villages, containing from 50 to 300 housing units, to the donors.
For every model village with 100 housing units, the government has decided to make a dispensary, chopal, primary school, vocational training institute, and other basic civic facilities. The donors will be asked to construct the facilities as well. The cost will be included in the cost of the village. Two model villages containing 50 houses units each will jointly use the facilities. When contacted, Disaster Management Authority and Relief Punjab director general Khalid Sherdil said that the calculated average cost to construct a damaged house was Rs 268,000 while the cost of a village with 100 housing units was Rs 30 million. ìThe cost of damaged houses varies according to the level of damage done. Four hundred to 650 square feet houses would be reconstructed in the model villages. The government would also cater to the houses with relatively smaller sizes, he said.
According to the data available with The News, at least 15 villages have been selected from the Bhakkar district, 30 of D G Khan district, 15 of Mianwali district, 49 villages of Muzafargrah district, 35 villages of Rahim Yar Khan district, 30 villages each of Layyah and Rajanpur districts.
Official damage assessment data shows that as many as 6,061 houses have been damaged in Bhakkar, 2671 in D G Khan, 642 in Khushab, 8182 in Layyah, 18352 in Mianwali, 30,000 in Muzfargrah, 6310 in Rahim Yar Khan and 24229 in Rajanpur districts.
According to sources, a documentary, about eight-minute long, has also been made to present the devastation of the floods. As the majority of foreign donors would like to inspect the places devastated by the calamity before pledging any aid, the government would focus on the local donors. It does not mean that it will not consider the foreign donors. Rather it would contact them even after the Donors Conference, they said, adding that foreign donors were expected to make pledges of huge assistance, in different forms and modes.