ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Thousands of people from earthquake affected areas staged protested here on Saturday against what they called continuous intimidation by the army and assessment teams, flawed Erra policies, long procedural delays and rampant corruption.
They said Erra policies regarding reconstruction and rehabilitation were neither people-friendly nor made keeping in view of their rights and needs, but were arbitrary, adding to people’s frustrations and miseries.
They said that in most cases, the rules devised for landowners and tenants had created mistrust between the two and had led to disputes. Also, the compensation policy was based on a standard rule of one roof which disregards the needs of extended families which had resulted in the marginalisation of widows who had no independent recourse to justice.
The protesters, women and children, came from Bagh, Muzaffarabad, Battagram and Mansehra and had the support of the Action Aid NGO. They were carrying placards and banners and enchanting slogans “Apply the good governance rules”, “We need accountability of International Aid”, and “Who is the killer of thousands of children in earthquake”. They were wearing black and red stripes around their heads and arms.
The protesters were chanting slogans like “Survey for help or survey for insult” and “Stop insulting people”.
They demanded full participation in policies affecting their lives and livelihoods and also in overseeing their implementation. They stressed that policies should be made taking into account the concerns repeatedly raised by the people, favouring the vulnerable and the poor.
Some of the protesters were holding bounced cheques in their hands, challenging government’s claims about disbursement of reconstruction funds.
