Senate continues debate on quake disaster
By Asim Hussain

ISLAMABAD—The Senate on Monday continued debate on devastation caused by the earthquake in the country including Azad Kashmir on October 8. Initiating the debate, Senator Ahmed Ali said the entire nation has shown great enthusiasm in collecting aid in various cities of the country. He stressed upon the opposition to support the government in its endeavour to provide relief to the earthquake victims and give concrete suggestions in this regard. Ahmed Ali also expressed his satisfaction over the pace of relief efforts by the provincial and federal governments. Taking part in the discussion, Senator Raza Muhammad Rabbani appreciated all political as well as religious parties for playing commendable role in this crucial time and helped their brethren in distress. But there was lack of coordination among these parties, he remarked.
He appreciated the international community for extending the required support to cope with the tragedy effectively and provide relief to the millions of quake victims. Criticizing the system of relief goods distribution, Senator Raza said along with a Senators delegation, he visited the many quake-affected areas where survivors were complaining for non-provision of relief items. He also criticized the government for not taking the parliament into confidence on preparing relief and rehabilitation plan for the quake stricken people. Although the relief goods have reached a massive scale in the affected areas but some deserving persons were still waiting for assistance, he added.
He called for need of a committee of all parties to cope with such a large scale calamity. Senator Anwar Beig proposed establishment of a disaster management centre to cope with earthquake and other natural disasters effectively in future. This centre, he said, should be equipped with modern gadgets including thermal cameras. He said with the help of modern gadgets, foreign rescue teams saved the precious lives of around 600 persons in Muzaffarabad. Senator Anwar Beig also called for need of coordinated efforts among all the relief agencies in order to provide relief to the victims in a better way. “This is a national tragedy and all of us should work jointly in this critical time to help our brethren in need,” he added. He suggested that zakat money collected during Ramazan in the country should be spent on providing relief to the quake victims. He also called for need of transparency as far as spending of donation money is concerned.
He also appreciated the entire nation for showing unity and solidarity with the victims of earthquake which participated in the rescue and relief efforts with great zeal. Taking part in debate, Senator Sanaullah Baloch expressed his reservations over the transparency of the reconstruction activities and demanded the Parliament’s role in dissemination of the funds. Baloch demanded that parliamentary committees should be empowered to look after the use of these funds and those responsible for using these funds must be held accountable to these committees.
He said the poor people of Balochistan were equally grieved over the earthquake devastation, no matter if they could not extend material assistance for the victims. Senator Maulana Gul Naseeb called for short and long term planning to rehabilitate the quake victims. He proposed projects for the injured and payment to them in cash for reconstruction of their homes as he alleged, work by government institutions will involve corruption and sub-standard construction. He said handicapped people must be given priority in rehabilitation and a fully empowered Committee of the Parliament be constituted to take care of the reconstruction process.
The Senator appreciated the nation for manifesting solidarity during relief activities. Allama Abbas Komeli appreciated the military role in relief activities and said, the entire nation was united to execute relief activities above their party interests and affiliation. He regretted that no proper geological survey was carried out to make aware the masses and formulate strategy to meet the such challenges. He proposed that the educational institutions must be reconstructed first and there should be transparency in accounts. He asked the opposition to contribute to the positive policies of the government and should avoid criticism for the sake of criticism. He invited the opposition parties to become the part of the Parliamentary Committee announced by the government.