PM urges effective disaster management system for economic continuity

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday stressed the need for addressing risks posed by natural and human induced disasters including terrorism, in order to ensure continuity of economic growth in the country.

“We must realize the fact that disasters threaten sustained economic growth of the society and the country,” the Prime Minister said while addressing at the opening ceremony of first National Disaster Risk Management Conference at PM Secretariat.

The event organized by National Disaster Management Authority to mark the Disaster Awareness Day observed annually after the October 2005’s catastrophic earthquake struck country’s northern areas, which killed 73,000 people and left 3.5 million homeless.

The Prime Minister mentioned various natural catastrophes like floods, droughts, landslides, and also the human induced disasters such as the menace of terrorism in recent years, due to which national economy suffered loss of billions of dollars.

He said the quake of 2005 caused a loss of over US $5.2 billion, which is staggering when compared to national budget for year 2006-2007 which was about US $ 25 billion.

He said the government had to divert precious resources from other development priorities in order to provide relief and response to the disaster survivors.

Gilani said through its reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, the government was committed to building back better what was lost as a consequence of earthquake.