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| November 16, 2005 | Wednesday | Shawwal 13, 1426 |
Quake damage estimated at Rs70 billion
PESHAWAR, Nov 15: The World Bank has estimated the destruction of government and private property in the NWFP at Rs70 billion. The loss to property has been included in the recommendations to be presented at the donors’ conference being held in Islamabad on Saturday, the NWFP cabinet was informed on Tuesday.
The cabinet, which met with Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani in the chair, reviewed a recovery plan for the quake-affected areas, said a statement issued after the meeting.
The cabinet resolved to speed up relief measures and distribution of cheques among the victims. It agreed to sanction various posts in education and health sectors and decided to expand the scale of healthcare facilities to reach the affected.
The cabinet underlined the need for capacity building of various departments and revival of economic activity in the affected areas.
The cabinet welcomed a federal government’s decision to exempt the affected areas from income tax and recommended that loans up to Rs100,000 for construction of building and agriculture should be waived off.
It urged the federal government to waive utility bills for three years in the affected areas or till the completion of rehabilitation and recovery plan.
The cabinet agreed, in principle, to evolve standard contract rates for road construction. It directed the health department to submit a proposal for full utilization of health-care units.
The cabinet noted that a large number of people would be coming down from their mountain abodes due to increasing cold and decided to make preparations to cope with the situation.
The chief minister called for measures to prevent epidemic in the quake-hit areas. He told the meeting that loans for seed, livestock, food, etc., had already been sanctioned.
Mr Durrani said that he would ask the federal government for deployment of an additional 50 platoons of the Frontier Constabulary to ensure security, particularly for foreign relief teams.
The cabinet condemned Monday’s attack on the Peshawar Press Club and ordered that repair work be undertaken immediately. The chief minister directed the IGP to ensure arrest of culprits without delay.
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