ISLAMABAD: The law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has hindered the revival of educational institutions in parts of the province affected by the 2005 earthquake.

While explaining why the deadline for the completion of 124 schools in the Battagram and Shangla districts were missed, the acting deputy chairman of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) Brig Abu Bakar Amin Bajwa told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the schools were not completed within the given timeframe because of the law and order situation.

He said while the reconstruction of earthquake-affected schools was ongoing in the aforementioned districts, there were reports that 300 individuals in those areas had been killed, and contractors therefore found it difficult to continue working according to the schedule.

The audit authorities objected to the slow pace of construction, and informed the PAC that most schools could not be rebuilt within the stipulated timeframe.

According to an audit official, the schools were supposed to be completed by 2011, but construction was not completed until 2014-2015. The audit report claimed Erra had released the amount to the contractors in June 2011 even though the schools were incomplete at the time.

The audit official said that due to the urgency, the government opted for prefabricated construction to revive the education sector in the affected areas. Despite of this, construction lingered on and the schools were handed over to the education department after a lapse of several years.

Mr Bajwa admitted to some delay, but attribute it to several reasons, including the security issue. He also said the payments were made to contractors after a substantial degree of completion because the reconstruction was being funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the funds were due to lapse in June 2011.

He insisted that the affected schools have been completed, and suggested the audit authorities visit the districts to verify the claim.

PAC chairman Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah suggested that verification should be carried out by a third parties, and not the audit authorities who had raised the objection. He asked the Erra management to write to the ADB to verify the reconstruction of the affected schools.

The PAC chairman, on the other hand, suggested that the verification should be done by the third party not by the audit authorities who had raised the objection. He asked Erra’s management to write a letter to ADB to verify the reconstruction of the schools.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2016