ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Appreciating the dedication and spirit of the armed forces in carrying out unprecedented relief operations in the earthquake-stricken areas, President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday emphasized the need for a continuous chain of logistics to ensure unbroken supply of goods to the victims.

He was addressing a meeting which had an overview of relief operations being carried out by the armed forces from arrival of relief goods to their transportation and delivery through 45 grass-roots nodal points in the quake-hit zone.

“The chain of relief supplies must continue ceaselessly in the days ahead for their prompt provision at all places as well as for earliest alleviation of the sufferings of the affected people,” he said.

The president said the relief aid must reach at the earliest to the deserving people.

Vice-Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ahsan Saleem Hyat, head of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) Lt-Gen Muhammad Zubair, Federal Relief Commissioner Maj-Gen Farooq Ahmed Khan and senior officers of the Pakistan Army and Air Force overseeing reception, transportation and delivery of relief goods attended the meeting.

The president was briefed about the entire process of ferrying relief assistance - from its arrival and sorting at the airbase, railway station and collection centres across the country to its transportation and delivery in the stricken areas.

The president observed that the bottlenecks earlier facing the logistics had been removed as round-the-clock endeavours by army engineers had reopened a majority of blocked routes to ferry relief goods to remote areas.

“We should continue to strive for reaching out to people in remote areas by air, road and through animal transport and here I would like to salute the soldiers who have accessed remote areas on foot to provide life-saving goods in the most difficult of terrains.” —APP