Flood victims' rehabilitation to cost billions of rupees: PM Shehbaz.

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said he could not sleep at night when the matter of compensating flood victims for their houses came to his mind.

'1 million houses have been swept away by water, God willing, we will compensate these people,' the premier said while addressing a function in Sohbatpur district of Balochistan.

Since the whole Sohbatpur district was submerged in floodwater, he said, it was not an easy task to deliver water and food to the flood-affected people in the region.

"I have not seen such a huge flood in my entire life," the prime minister said, adding that with the plains of Sindh and the mountainous region of Balochistan submerged in water, the rehabilitation of victims is a daunting task.

The function in Sohbatpur district was held at the inauguration of a rebuilt Government Boys Secondary School of Kili Jia Khan.

While addressing the audience, PM Shehbaz expressed hope that he would be able to rally the support of the international community for the process of reconstruction and rehabilitation of flood-hit Pakistan at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan scheduled to be held in Geneva on January 9.

He also said he was constantly contacting the leadership of friendly countries to invite them to the conference.

'Yesterday, I talked to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who has me assured that Malaysia is sending a delegation to the conference. The Malaysian PM will also join through Zoom.'

Premier Shehbaz also told the audience that he had held telephonic interactions with the leaders of Turkey, Qatar and UAE to gather more support.

The prime minister said he would co-chair the moot with the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

However, he said the government and the people of Pakistan must also make an active effort for the rehabilitation.

He said the government had already distributed Rs100 billion among the affected people through Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) but a lot more funds are still needed to compensate for the 1 million houses destroyed by the flood. 'Many people are still awaiting assistance for their rehabilitation."

On the occasion of the inauguration, the prime minister unveiled the plaque of the newly-built smart school building and announced that the school's facilities would be at par with the Danish Schools of Punjab.

He committed to upgrading the school by March 23 and pledged that it would be equipped with IT facilities like...