ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: The World Bank has decided to offer an additional $100 million to build ‘designed houses’ in quake-hit areas of Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas.

Official sources told Dawn on Wednesday that the new $100 million funding would be in addition to the $40 million assistance that had been announced by the World Bank for strengthening the relief operation.

The bank has also decided to create a $5 million ‘disaster relief fund’ out of the $230 million assistance earlier extended to the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF).

The bank wants the PPAF to take up the job of building designed houses with a view to ensuring “prudent spending and swiftly carrying out the task”.

The sources said that World Bank’s local head John Wall had met PPAF chief executive Kamal Hayat on Sunday and asked him to finalize details for acquiring the new funding.

PPAF is a government-backed organization which operates independently in the private sector. The designed houses will be able to withstand earthquakes.

According to sources, the bank wants the government to allow PPAF to involve itself in the construction of designed houses in the quake-hit areas with the help of the Non-Governmental Organizations.

PPAF would plan and monitor the designed houses and assess whether micro-credit programme could also be initiated in the quake-hit regions.

Meanwhile, sources in the local multilateral agencies expressed concern over the fact that some of the quake-hit areas had not been reached even after 11 days of the earthquake.

“We hope Pakistan government will make more efforts to strengthen the relief operation so that the increasing loss of lives can be minimized,” a source said, fearing that the death toll could go beyond 100,000 if seriously injured people were not treated in time.

He said that although the international community had offered significant financial support, more substantial assistance needed to mitigate the sufferings of the affected.