ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday announced that schools in earthquake-affected areas would start functioning from next week.
Talking to journalists after visiting the Cantonment General Hospital (CGH) in Rawalpindi, Mr Aziz said he had asked AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat and NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani to take measures to restart schools in the affected areas.
He said 250 tents, each with a capacity for 50 children, were being dispatched to quake-hit areas of Muzaffarabad and Balakot to open schools in them to avoid disturbance in the academic session.
Answering a question about tents for the homeless, he said the government was providing maximum number of tents to victims and added that 10,000 tents were being brought from Jeddah while Nato was also transporting thousands from Turkey.
Appreciating relief efforts made by the Pakistan army and NGOs, especially in providing treatment at the CGH, the premier announced a Rs50 million grant to be spent on ensuring medical facilities for the injured.
He also lauded the dedication and commitment of doctors, including those from South Africa and Cuba who had been working with missionary zeal in the hospital.
He held out the assurance that more funds and latest medical equipment would be provided to the hospital to make it fully functional for the treatment of quake victims.
He said that relief and rehabilitation work was going on in full swing and routine life was returning to normalcy gradually.
Mr Aziz said that many brotherly countries, including the UAE, were engaged in building new hospitals in Muzaffarabad and Rawalakot, adding that a 100-bed hospital being made in Rawalakot with the cooperation of UAE would be ready in four to five months.
He said the rehabilitation work had entered the next phase in which many other damaged hospitals were being repaired and added that electricity and water supply systems and roads in affected areas were improving.
In reply to a question, he said Pakistan had given a formal proposal to India to open the Line of Control at five points to allow divided Kashmiris to meet each other in this critical time and added that Indian response to the proposal was awaited.
President Pervez Musharraf, he said, had made the offer with good intention and now it was India’s responsibility to accept it to pave the way for contact between the Kashmiris living on both sides of the LoC.
He said Pakistan was ready to provide relief goods to the quake-hit Kashmiris across the LoC and similarly it was not opposed to receive help from India. He pointed out that the AJK premier was inaugurating a camp in Muzaffarabad today (Sunday) to collect relief goods for quake victims of occupied Kashmir.
About tents, he said Pakistani tent manufacturers had offered their whole capacity to the government which would start buying 7,000 tents on a daily basis from them very soon to meet the shortage in affected areas.
The prime minister expressed the hope that the requirement of tents for all affected areas would be met by Nov 15. He said Turkey had ordered manufacturing of one million tents.
Referring to supply of foodstuff and medicines, he said the Pakistan army, NGOs and international organizations had worked hard and there was no shortage of these items.
He appreciated the enthusiasm and dedication shown by people to help quake victims.
Earlier, the prime minister visited different wards and inquired about the health of patients.—APP
