Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has proposed to the government to seriously consider constitution of Citizens Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Committees (CRRCs) at union councils, towns and tehsils levels for early rehabilitation of flood victims.

Mr.Zahid Maqbool, President, ICCI said that the local people should be given leading role in CRRCs as they are in a better position to identify and prioritize the rehabilitation activities. He said CRRCs should conduct assessment studies and submit their reports to designated government authorities for allocation of funds.

He said that local people should be made part of the monitoring teams that would monitor the rebuilding of local infrastructure like bridges, roads, buildings, irrigation systems etc. He said local businessmen of affected areas should also be involved in reestablishing businesses.

He said that the floods have further compounded the already insufficient job opportunities and poor infrastructure in rural areas and this situation could pose serious problems in reviving the country’s economy.

However, he said that rural economy is blessed with abundant labor and urged that government should develop a proper mechanism to make best use of this resource to accelerate the pace of rebuilding infrastructure and developing business opportunities. This way, poor people will get jobs and contribute positively in coming out of the current catastrophe.

Mr.Zahid Maqbool said that the defunct local bodies system had developed Citizens Development Committees in each union council in urban and rural areas, which were responsible for spotting and prioritizing the uplift activities. He suggested that the CDCs should also be reinvigorated and involved together with the CRRCs in rehabilitation and reconstruction activities.

He said about 20 million people and almost one-fifth area of the country has been badly affected by the worst floods of our history. This colossal damage needs urgent and workable strategies to restore uprooted people and businesses. He was of the view that CRRCs and CDCs could play a major role in early rehabilitation of flood victims and destroyed businesses.