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| October 10, 2006 | Tuesday | Ramazan 16, 1427 |
Erra, UN brace for winter
ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: The United Nations humanitarian coordinator Jan Vandemoortele on Monday said the UN agencies together with the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) were making preparations for the coming winter.
The UN coordinator in a briefing on “Erra-UN early recovery plan review” said restoration of institutional and human capacity was a must to keep the pace of recovery in the quake-hit areas.
The recovery plan was developed jointly by Erra, provincial authorities, the IASC country team and other implementing partners.
“We are bringing in a small fleet of helicopters as a part of winter preparations in the event that this winter proves to be a hard one,” Vandemoortele said.
He said plans were underway to upgrade the services in the existing camps along with making provisions for an additional 10,000 - 15,000 persons who could seek refuge in the camps in case of a harsh winter.
He said the stocks for shelter and food were being stockpiled in the valleys and lower plains.
He said 35,000 people remained in tents in the organised camps and estimated that another 15,000 to 30,000 people may come down during the winter.
He said the health sector had been sufficiently restored to be ready for winter. “We are very much keeping disease early warning system in place.”
He said now our collective challenge is to rebuild safer and sustainable structures for the communities to become more resilient and stronger.
He said total fund required for the recovery plan had been revised to $255 million. Approximately, $161 million had been mobilised, leaving a gap of just under $94 million, he added.
He said the best funded sectors were education, governance, and livelihoods.
Under early recovery plan, 12 housing reconstruction centres have been established which are operational and helping the people to rebuild better houses, he added.
Deputy chairman Erra Lt. Gen Nadeem Ahmed said plans were underway to extend assistance to populations living in the rural areas and high altitudes to stabilise population movements during winter.—APP
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