ISLAMABAD, April 8: The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority warned on Saturday that the cost of reconstruction of quake-hit areas would significantly go up due to rising prices of construction material. Currently, it is estimated that the reconstruction would cost $3.6 billion.
Speaking at a press conference at the UN Information Centre, Erra Deputy-Chairman Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmed did not offer any estimate of expected cost increase but said it would be substantial.
He said it was estimated that the cost would go up by $0.8 billion only in housing sector. There are 12 sectors Erra is working on.
The general sounded a warning for the local cement industry, saying the government may allow import of cement to bring down its price.
Answering a question on Erra’s criticism of the United Nations’ National Action Plan for being too expensive, he said there were no principled differences on it and Erra only wanted to see it rationalised.
The authority’s objections over the plan had delayed its launching, which was originally planned for April 10. The general said it would now be launched by mid of this month.
He said they wanted to regulate working of NGOs for which the authority concerned had been asked to restrict issuance of interim permission for operation of international NGOs in the quake-hit areas.
On the issue of relocation of Balakot, he said it lied on three fault lines and another subsidiary fault line, adding that Erra was looking for a space close to the existing town, with a capacity to accommodate 50,000 people.
He hinted that Bessian could be the final choice for the new location of Balakot but declined to offer a specific timeframe for the transition policy for the town and as to what would be the future of the existing town. “The provincial government will prepare a plan and then we would see how we go about.”
Speaking on the occasion, UN Resident Coordinator Jan Vandemoortele, said it was going to be long haul before the quake survivors returned to normal lives.
The man who led the international relief effort said road accessibility, assistance of the vulnerable, coverage of basic services and targeted residual assistance to foster early recovery were some of issues that needed to be immediately addressed.
He cautioned that survivors could face another difficult winter if the activities fell to low ebb once the relief phase was over.
He was critical of the return of displaced people as he said there had been instances of involuntary returns in which ‘push factor’ was involved due to ‘over-eagerness of certain individuals.’
ISLAMABAD, April 8: The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority warned on Saturday that the cost of reconstruction of quake-hit areas would significantly go up due to rising prices of construction material. Currently, it is estimated that the reconstruction would cost $3.6 billion.
