KARACHI (PPI): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Thursday that his government had started the reconstruction of 2.1 million new houses to rehabilitate more than 12.6 million flood-affected population of the province which exceeds the population of 154 countries.
“We are also supporting WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) interventions. A funding of Rs39 billion has been secured to connect 264,250 houses with safe sanitation facilities,” 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, Tippu Sultan Road. Provincial ministers, Sharjeel Memon, Nasir Shah, Makhdoom Mahbood and DG SPHF Khalid Shaikh were present on the occasion.
The chief minister said that Rs550 billion was required for the construction of 2.1 million houses against which his government with the support from donor agencies had secured Rs440 billion while the shortfall of Rs110 billion would be met through foreign funding and the federal government support.
The CM said that the initiative was aimed at implementing a sustainable rehabilitation strategy after 2.1 million houses were damaged by floods 20222, affecting 12.36 million people, with 85 per cent of the affected homes being katcha houses.
Mr Shah said that the initiative was driven by the vision of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who, being 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: “Within one year, we have revalidated 2.1 million beneficiaries, with 525,000 houses currently under construction, meeting this year’s target. Over 100,000 houses have already been completed.”
He said: “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.” The CM added that by the end of next year, they would complete between 1.2 and 1.5 million houses.
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. Mr 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 said.
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 Rs65.67 billion, 126,588 houses in Dadu for Rs37.97 billion, 100,518 houses in Larkana for Rs30.15 billion, 98,540 houses in Naushehro Feroze for Rs29.56 billion, 87,723 houses in Jacobabad for Rs26.31 billion, 72,346 houses in Shaheed Benazirabad for Rs21.70 billion, and 70,335 houses in Shikarpur forRs21.10 billion.
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 had committed 200,000 solar panels.
Replying to a question, the chief minister said that commitment from the federal government for Rs50 billion was yet to be realized. “I am sure Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif would fulfil the commitment,” he said. He added that the ECNEC had not been constituted, therefore, approval from the ECNEC had been pending for the last 4 months.
Earlier, DG SPHF Khalid Shaikh briefed the chief minister about the progress of the project.
