MANSEHRA, June 24: Displaced people of the Jabba tent village on Sunday threatened to hold demonstrations and block the Balakot Road if the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra) did not withdraw the condition of filing an affidavit in which a quake victim had to affirm that he/she did not possess any land in his/her name.
The UN-Habitat had set up a Land Verification Unit in the Jabba tent village on June 23 to facilitate the Erra to pay the compensation amount of Rs75,000 to each of the 350 displaced families. However, all displaced families have refused to collect and sign the form, which is meant for the payment and verification of land.
The district coordinator officer and other senior officials visited the camp to convince the displaced families to collect the forms and submit them with the UN-Habitat to receive their compensation, which is meant only for landless families.
Over 300 displaced people met District Nazim Sardar Mohammed Yousuf the other day so that they could get his help but in vain. Now they have threatened to launch an agitation and block the road if their demand was not met.
The chairman of the Custodian Committee for the Rights of the Jabba Tent Village, Abdul Rehman, said to this correspondent: “We will not receive the form until Erra does not withdraw the condition of the affidavit as it is like a bare sword on the heads of landless victims.” He added: “Though most of the landless victims hold forested, mountainous and underwater land in their names but it does not mean that they have land to reconstruct their houses.” He said the affected families had chalked out a strategy to take out a procession and block the road on July 1 if their demands were not met.
