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| April 2, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1427 |
Reconstruction to be transparent: Erra
ISLAMABAD, April 1: The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) said on Saturday the government was negotiating a framework for monitoring reconstruction activities with donor agencies and assured the question of transparency would be addressed in a comprehensive manner.
Erra Chairman Altaf M. Saleem was talking to a six-member delegation of the United Kingdom Conservative Party, which called on him at Prime Minister’s Secretariat here.
He said a comprehensive multi-layered system of physical and financial audit had been put in place to ensure transparency.
He said the strategies for housing, healthcare, education and livelihood cash grants had been approved by the Erra council and would be implemented in two to three years. He said most of the work pertaining to rural housing would be completed before the next winter set in.
Mr Saleem said strategies for other sectors — including transport, water supply, sanitation and waste management, energy, industry and tourism, agriculture, livestock and irrigation, private sector development and environment and forests — were being prepared and would be in a final shape in two to three months.
Answering a question by the team leader, Dominic Grieve, he said the NWFP was not ignored by Erra and attention was being paid to both Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Frontier province.
He said $80 million would be spent on the livelihood programme and 250,000 families would get short-term support for rebuilding their houses.
He said Erra had planned to use latest equipment to satisfy the donors regarding the use of funds during the reconstruction. “We have planned to use digital cameras and GPS to take the pictures of the destroyed houses before the reconstruction.”
He said Erra had removed confusion about the reconstruction by adopting a one-window operation and advised any organization or person interested in reconstruction of schools, houses and hospital to contact the authority.
Deputy Chairman Erra, Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmad said the assessment and inspection teams would visit quake-hit areas of Azad Kashmir and the NWFP before any amount could be paid to the affected people.
About the role of army in the reconstruction process, he said it would provide security cover, respond to emergencies, keep the roads open, remove debris and assist in provision of medical and aviation support.
The delegation valued the work carried out by the government and people of Pakistan after the earthquake and vowed to continue support from the people of the UK till the complete rehabilitation of the survivors.
The delegation was headed by Shadow Attorney-General Grieve and included MP Paul Goodman, Vice-Chairperson Conservative Party Saeeda Warsi, Chairman Bestway Group Sir Anwar Pervez, Chairman Kashmir European Forum Mehboob Bhatti and Dr Zia Samdani.
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