April 8, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1427

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HATTIAN DUPATTA (AJK), April 7: Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority’s Chairman Altaf Salim on Friday launched a campaign to undertake a survey of earthquake-affected families and damaged houses ahead of payment of the second installment of compensation.

Mr Salim toured the riverside town of Hattian Dupatta, some 25 kilometres south of Muzaffarabad, and visited a damaged house to get details about losses as well as proprietary rights to be filled in the registration form.

Erra’s deputy chairman Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmed, General Officer Commanding 12 Div Maj-Gen Qasim Qureshi, World Bank representative John Walls, AJK chief secretary Kashif Murtaza and other civil and military officials were present on the occasion.

Shortly before the Erra team flew into the town, a group of activists from the National Students Federation (NSF) staged a demonstration and chanted slogans against what they said was a “complicated process” introduced by the authority for payment of compensation.

The demonstrators, however, dispersed peacefully after the local administration officials offered them consolation and requested them to end their protest.

Earlier, speaking to a sizeable gathering of earthquake survivors on the premises of a school, the Erra chairman emphatically said that registration of particulars of the affected families was necessary for payment of the second installment of compensation money for the damaged houses.

“A clear procedure has been adopted for the purpose and every household will have to pass through the process of assessment and inspection without which no payment will be made,” he said.

Officials say that Erra has constituted 222 survey teams of three kinds to carry out assessment, investigation and training in the quake-hit zone, 87 of which are for the worst-hit Muzaffarabad district.

Mr Salim said that during the registration process the survey teams would make door-to-door visits to collect particulars of the victims and compile reports after assessing the losses.

These particulars will be computerised through a transparent system following which payment of the second installment would begin from April 17, he said.

Stating that the federal government had earmarked Rs40 billion for this purpose, he remarked: “It’s the trust of the nation and there will not be any dishonesty in its distribution.”

The Erra chairman asked the quake victims to extend full cooperation to the registration and survey teams so that timely disbursement of compensation money could be ensured.

The federal government, he said, has devised guiding principles for the payment of compensation money and Erra will not make any promise that it cannot keep.

He said Erra, under the directions of President Pervez Musharraf, would not unilaterally enforce any policy at this stage and would keep the representatives of public and the AJK government involved (in the process).

He also made it clear that the constructions would have to be in accordance with the designs and directions of Erra so as to make them earthquake resistant for the safety of the people.

He told the gathering that the government had hired some of the world’s leading experts to make the buildings earthquake resistant.

Mr Salim also inaugurated the cash grant scheme for those who had been unable to earn their livelihood.

Under the scheme, the government would pay Rs3,000 per month to each deserving family for six months as a subsistence allowance.

The cash grant will be given in a friendly atmosphere with a view to helping these families resume their normal lives, he said.

Earlier, AJK chief secretary also spoke and attempted to allay the apprehensions of the survivors regarding the mode of payment.

There will not be any unnecessary delay in the payment of the second instalment, he said. “The registration of particulars and disbursement of money will take place side by side after ten days.”