Daily Times

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday said that government has started reconstruction of 2.1 million new houses to rehabilitate more than 12.6 million flood-affected populations of the province.

“We are also supporting WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) interventions. A funding of Rs 39 billion has been secured to connect 264,250 houses with safe sanitation facilities.” This he said while talking to media just after reviewing the progress of reconstruction of 2.1 million houses for flood-affected people at Sindh Peoples Housing for Flood Affectees (SPHF) office. Provincial Ministers, Sharjeel Memon, Nasir Shah, Makhdoom Mahboob and DG SPHF Khalid Shaikh were present on the occasion.

The chief minister said that Rs 550 billion were required for the construction of 2.1 million houses against which Sindh government with the support of donor agencies has secured Rs 440 billion and the shortfall of Rs 110 billion would be met through foreign funding and federal government support.

Murad Ali Shah said the initiative aimed at implementing a sustainable rehabilitation strategy after 2.1 million houses were damaged by floods in 2022, affecting 12.36 million people, with 85 per cent of the affected homes being katcha houses.

Shah said that the initiative was driven by the vision of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who was foreign minister, successfully mobilized funds at the Geneva Conference in January 2023 and the Donors Conference in Sindh on February 8, 2023.

The CM said that within one year, we have revalidated 2.1 million beneficiaries, with 525,000 houses currently under construction, meeting this year’s target. He added that over 100,000 houses have already been completed. At the project’s inception, we received financial assistance from the World Bank amounting to $ 500 million, supplemented by $227 million from the Sindh government.

“To date, we have secured around 70 per cent of the necessary funding for the project’s successful completion, with additional support currently in the pipeline from the Islamic Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank,” he said.

He added that by the end of next year, we would complete 1.2 to 1.5 million houses. When we talk about the reconstruction of 2.1 million new houses, we are talking about the rehabilitation of more than 12.6 million flood-affected populations, which exceeds the population of 154 countries, Murad Shah said and added in this context, we were striving to rehabilitate populations similar to that of many countries. Murad Shah said that the positive impacts of this comprehensive housing reconstruction program were evident through the beneficiaries’ self-reliance, as they are rebuilding multi-hazard-resistant houses themselves.

He added that the ‘program employed the latest and most transparent technologies/Management Information Systems, ensuring that grants for housing reconstruction were transferred directly into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.

Murad Shah disclosed that the beneficiaries independently purchased construction materials and hired masons, underscoring the project’s transparency, efficacy, and high performance. “Additionally, SPHF is working with world-class partners, including Big three audit firms EY, PwC, and KPMG, who are on board as auditors.”

Under Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s vision, beneficiaries are also awarded land titles, with a particular focus on empowering women, Murad Shah said and added that approximately 800,000 women were beneficiaries, including women-headed households, who were having their accounts opened by the project and would receive land titles through “Sanads,” – a significant step towards women’s empowerment.

The chief minister said that so far 10,000 land titles have been awarded to women and most of them Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has distributed himself. CM Shah said that 111,666 beneficiaries were disabled, of them 36,545 male adults, 28,869 children, 25,901 female adults and 20,351 children. “Every 20th-house has a person with special needs,” he added. Initially started as a housing initiative, SPHF is now moving beyond housing to create resilient communities, the CM said.

“We are also supporting WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) interventions, for which funding of Rs 39 billion has been secured, connecting 264,250 houses with safe sanitation facilities. SPHF is also developing digital settlement plans using drone technology for spatial mapping and creating a digital dashboard for each deh, the CM said and added that a pilot program for the first 1,000 settlements was underway and would later be expanded to all 50,000 settlements across Sindh.

Giving details of the funds to reconstruct the houses, the chief minister said that 218,894 houses were being constructed in Khairpur for Rs 65.67 billion, 126588 houses in Dadu for Rs 37.97 billion, 100,518 houses in Larkana for Rs 30.15 billion, 98,540 houses in Naushehroferoze for Rs 29.56 billion, 87,723 houses in Jacobabad for Rs 26.31 billion, 72,346 houses in Shaheed Benazirabad for Rs 21.70 billion, and 70,335 houses in Shikarpur for Rs 21.10 billion. ?This is not simply a reconstruction of the houses, but the activity has strengthened the local economy where billions of rupees were being fueled,? he said.

“The CM said that the reconstructed houses would be provided with solar energy for which his government on the instructions of chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto has committed 200,000 [solar] panels.”

Replying to a question, the chief minister said that commitment from the federal government for Rs 50 billion was yet to be realized. “I am sure Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would fulfil the commitment,” he said. “He added that the ECNEC has not been constituted, therefore approval from the ECNEC has been pending for the last four months.” Earlier, DG SPHF Khalid Shaikh briefed the chief minister about the progress of the project.