Red faces as PM refuses to launch flood dashboard

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the authorities concerned to improve the flood relief digital dashboard by adding more required features believing that a dashboard of international standards would ensure better coordination among institutions and enhance the country’s credibility.

The prime minister, in a briefing on the dashboard being developed to provide real-time information about flood relief support and its usage, instructed to add more features like the weather alert and others to make it a “world-class” platform containing all relevant information. “We should design a dashboard which the whole nation should be proud of,” said the prime minister, who would formally inaugurate the facility on Monday.

The prime minister exemplified a dashboard on dengue outbreak by the Punjab government during his stint as chief minister, which, he said, had got international recognition as it had contained all the relevant information like the hotspots and the provided facilities. He pointed out the shortcomings in the design and called for further improvements to enable it to meet the nation’s needs, and effectively reflect the coordinated efforts being made by the government for relief and rehabilitation of the flood-stricken people. Prime Minister Shehbaz said the flood relief dashboard must contain all the relevant information about every item - where the relief items like quilts and baby food were sent and where the same came from. He said the government would provide all required support for the development of the dashboard, which should not be a makeshift arrangement but rather a facility usable even for decades.

The prime minister said the government would hold a conference on Thursday inviting friendly countries and international organizations extending flood relief support to brief them about the latest situation and the country’s future needs.