ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: President General Pervez Musharraf has directed to give highest priority in reconstruction and rehabilitation to the housing sector. This was stated by the chairman, Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority, Lt Gen Mohammad Zubair, while addressing a meeting on development of strategic partnership with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) here on Sunday.

He said the basis for this decision is to help the affected people quickly to rebuild their houses according to earthquake-proof standards so that they could resume their normal lives.

He said the reconstruction of houses in rural areas will be completed within two years, and added that 88 per cent of the houses demolished by the earthquake were in rural areas.

He said the other priority areas, approved by the president, are education and health. “Consequently, the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority is focussing its efforts to rapidly accelerate the implementation of programmes in these priority areas,” he added.

Lt Gen Zubair said the president has already approved the overall policy for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the housing and education sectors. The health policy is currently under preparation.

He said the housing policy announced by the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority is based on several principles: it will be owner-driven, the reconstruction will be supervised according to earthquake-resistant design and aimed at building better houses.

He said the reconstruction will be in situation, which means there will be no re-location, except certain urban areas where planning requirement may demand a change in location.

He said the government will provide a uniform subsidy for reconstruction of houses.

He said the supervision of the reconstruction of over 400,000 houses is a challenging task requiring the collaboration of all concerned.

Speaking about the role of Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority, Mr Zubair said it had been mandated by the government to oversee the reconstruction of earthquake-affected areas and the rehabilitation of people affected by it.