ISLAMABAD – Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lt. Gen Omer Mahmood Hayat has said that efforts aimed at achieving rapid growth are being undermined by the impact of disasters.
Pakistan is a country prone to disasters, both natural and man-made disasters that include hazardous material spills, fires, groundwater contamination, transportation accidents, structure failures, mining accidents, explosions and acts of terrorism, he added.
Lt. Gen Omer Mahmood Hayat said that the private sector of the country is no exception as it has been significantly affected by increased exposure to disaster risks.
Speaking to the business community at FPCCI Capital Office, he said that partnership is needed among government bodies and private sector to make businesses resilient.
He stressed the engagement of the private sector in the overall humanitarian response structure of the country.
He also informed participants about the key policy frameworks, key roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, disaster recovery by building resilience in the business supply chain, country-specific agendas and private sector contribution for developing institutional partnerships for disaster mitigation.
He said that there is no policy to deal with the industrial disasters while only floods have inflicted loss of tens of billions of dollars to the economy.
Earlier in his welcome address, President FPCCI Ghazanfar Bilour welcomed the team of NDMA and assured all out-cooperation.
He said that climate change has become a challenge as Pakistan is among the countries worst hit by this phenomenon.
Pakistan contributes less than 1 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases causing global warming, yet its 200 million people are among the world’s most vulnerable victims of the growing consequences of climate change.
Brig. Mukhtar Ahmed, Karim Aziz Malik, Malik Zubair, Malik Sohail, Ijaz Abbasi, Qurban Ali Khan, Sajjad Sarwar, Tariq Sadiq, Mrs. Mumtaz Raja, Naima Ansari, Musammil Sabri, Tariq Mehmood, Mukhtar Ahmed, Naeem Siddiqui, Fawad Waheed, Dr. Nazia, Tanveer Afsar Malik, and others were also present at the occasion.
