MANSEHRA, Aug 18: A total of 116,554 families of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir have been paid compensation for the houses they lost in the October 8, 2005, earthquake. This was stated on Saturday by the chief operations officer of the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), Kamran Akber, in Timree and Badrosha on Saturday.

He said the PPAF had undertaken various development projects, worth over Rs9 billion, in the earthquake-affected areas of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir.

The deputy chairman of the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra), Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmad, World Bank representative Mr Karaft, and PPAF’s chief executive Kamal Hayat personally inspected the various rehabilitation projects in Mansehra district.

The delegation went to Timree, Badrosha, Kotli Balla and Kotli Pain and inspected the various reconstruction projects involving roads, schools and healthcare centres, besides earthquake-resistant houses. They expressed satisfaction over the pace of the projects.

Speaking at a gathering of earthquake survivors in Kotli Pain, Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmed said the Erra, with the collaboration of the world community, was striving hard to rehabilitate the earthquake survivors and improve infrastructure in the NWFP and Azad Kashmir.

He said: “We are thankful to the world community for their mammoth cooperation as the rehabilitation of the earthquake victims by the Pakistan government alone was not an easy task.”

He said that in the NWFP and Azad Kashmir the reconstruction work was continuing apace and very soon life would return to normality.

Regional Programme Manager of the SRSP, Shakil Ahmad, Regional in-charge of the PPAF, Momna Khan, and other district officials were present on the occasion.