People fleeing from flooded areas shout anti-government slogans and set off a fire while they block the road during a protest against the delay in relief, in Sukkur in Pakistan's Sindh province Monday. Pakistan authorities forecast on Monday a brief respite in rains that sparked the country's worst floods in decades, but aid agencies warned help was too slow to arrive for millions without clean water, food and homes.
Now watched being Rebuilding Pakistan after floods could reach $15 billion
SUKKUR, Pakistan — The cost of rebuilding Pakistan after its devastating floods could exceed $10 to $15 billion, the country's High Commissioner to Britain said on Monday.
He said this was a rough estimate because an assessment of the extent of the damage caused by the floods — which have affected 20 million people — had yet to be carried out.
But the number gave an indication of the scale of the reconstruction needed after the floods swept away roads, bridges and telecommunications, and destroyed crops for food supplies, exports and cotton for its vital textile industry.
"It will take at least five years," High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan told Reuters in an interview. Asked about the cost of rebuilding, he said, "I think more than $10 to $15 billion."
Pakistan, already embroiled in a battle against Islamist militants, is appealing for international aid to help it cope with one of the worst natural disasters in its history.
The United Nations says only a quarter of the estimated $459 million in international aid needed just for immediate relief has arrived so far.
Protesters block highway
Pakistani flood victims, burning straw and waving sticks, blocked a highway on Monday to demand government help as aid agencies warned relief was too slow to arrive for millions without clean water, food and homes.
Coppied by http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38719815/
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