ISLAMABAD, Nov 16: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday that while all parliamentary leaders had been invited to the Nov 19 donors’ conference he would convene the first meeting of the proposed parliamentary body next week. A day earlier, the prime minister had told reporters in Islamabad that the parliamentary body would soon start functioning — irrespective of whether the opposition parties took part in it or not — and invitations would be issued to all parliamentary leaders.

Mr Aziz said 60 high-level representatives would participate in the Nov 19 donors’ conference. The prime minister voiced hope that the plan presented by President Musharraf would be endorsed by the participants.

He expressed hope that the president’s idea of gaining sponsorship of various donors agencies and organisations to build villages and government buildings would receive an encouraging response and public participation would accelerate and make the otherwise gigantic task of rehabilitation of quake-hit areas easy.

Mr Aziz welcomed the opening of a fifth crossing point on the Line of Control and described it as a step forward in further expanding ties between India and Pakistan which could culminate in a viable solution of the core issue of Kashmir.

“Pakistan wants to enhance bilateral relations with India in all spheres of life and hopes that frequent exchanges between people of both territories would enhance the level of cooperation between the two countries,” said Mr Aziz, who presided over a briefing by various NGOs working in the field to mitigate sufferings of quake victims.

Mr Aziz said that non-governmental organizations had appreciated the “exemplary coordination” between the military and relief agencies and suggested that more such efforts be made to ensure flow of relief goods.

He said the government had decided to mobilize the health ministry to reach out to inhabitants of tent villages and ensure they were provided safe and clean drinking water, sanitation and a congenial atmosphere for living.

In response to a query from an international development worker, the federal relief commissioner said that radio licences had already been issued to various parties to provide quake victims with the means to remain aware of post-quake developments.

The development worker said that hundreds and thousands of people living in the mountains had no means of media which could keep them informed about post-quake developments and suggested that more and more radios be provided to them.

Another participant asked the government to keep a check on the spiralling cost of construction material in the follow-up of reconstruction activities getting under way in Azad Kashmir and northern parts of NWFP and pointed out that CGI sheets used for making walls and roofs of proposed quake-resistant houses had shot up from Rs400 per piece to Rs550.