Flood recovery will take years: Zardari

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari warned Tuesday the country could take three years or more to recover from the near month-long devastating floods as the authorities battled to protect cities from the rising waters.

“Your guess is as good as mine, but three years is a minimum,” Zardari told reporters when asked how long it would take Pakistan to go through reconstruction and rehabilitation after the floods.

“I don’t think Pakistan will ever fully recover but we will move on,” the president was quoted as saying by Dawn News.

The country’s worst natural disaster has killed over 1,600 people and affected about 20 million nationwide, with the threat of disease ever-present in the camps sheltering survivors.