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Summary
The Daily Telegraph newspaper, citing unnamed senior Pakistani officials, said there were fears this diversion of funds would put off foreign donors from giving money to help 20 million people currently affected by heavy floods.There is reluctance, even people in this country are not giving generously into this flood fund because they're not too sure the money will be spent honestly, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif told the newspaper. The Daily Telegraph said more than 300 million pounds of aid for the 2005 earthquake, which killed more than 73,000 people, has yet to be handed over to Pakistan's Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA). It cited one senior ERRA official as saying they were told in March 2009 that 12 billion Pakistan rupees was being diverted from their budget to other government projects. In June this year, ERRA staff were again told their budget was being cut, from 43 billion rupees for 2010-11 to just 10 billion, the newspaper said. The paper also said it had visited the town of Balakot, where 5000 people were killed in the earthquake. Despite a promise to rebuild it on a new site, no new roads had been completed nor had building construction begun. Pakistan's finance secretary, Salman Siddiq, denied any foreign aid funds had been diverted and told the paper: No cuts were imposed last year.Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Saturday that 20 million people had been affected by the worst floods in the country's history, for which the United Nations has appealed for $US460 million in aid.
