ISLAMABAD, Dec 31: Chairman of the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority, Lt-Gen Mohammad Zubair, has said Rs180 billion will be disbursed for reconstruction and rehabilitation in the quake-hit areas in four months.

He was speaking at a meeting arranged by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) with manufacturers and suppliers of building materials here on Saturday.

Lt-Gen Zubair said that 400,000 or more houses destroyed in the quake would be re-built. He said local materials would be used to re-build houses on modern lines.

He said the government institutions would not be engaged in the reconstruction process and it would be done through the active involvement of the private sector.

Gen Zubair said eight to nine construction material hubs would be established in the quake-hit areas to serve as bulk supply points and to ensure uninterrupted supply of building material.

He said that market forces would drive out the elements providing substandard material. He said there would be safeguards to obviate black-marketing, hoarding and shortage of building material and to ensure provision of quality material to consumers.

He made it clear that pre-fabricated structures for housing sector were not acceptable. However, they could be used for the revival of health and education sectors, he added.

In reply to a question, he said there was no ban on the import of cement from India. The government, he said, had excluded cement, steel and corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets from the negative list, allowing their import from India.

The authority chief said he would take up the matter relating to duty-free import of cement from India for reconstruction in the quake-stricken areas with the relevant authorities.

He said a Japanese firm would soon start town planning for Muzaffarabad.

The authority chief said Sui gas would also be supplied to Muzaffarabad, pointing out that Azad Kashmir had been opened for tourism. Rawalakot would be developed as a tourist point, he added.

Gen Zubair said massive reconstruction work would begin in early April while a lot of homework, including finalization of designs, was underway.

The government would provide money to build ‘owner driven supervised houses’ in line with the officially approved design, using local material. The people would be provided Rs175,000 for each damaged or destroyed house, irrespective of the size of the house they owned.

People would be encouraged to use wood, mild steel and corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets to construct houses able to withstand earthquakes in future. The under-construction houses would be inspected before release of each installment. “We do not want to create problems for the people, but want to make sure that the officially-approved design is followed and the money is not used for some other purpose,” he said.

Micro finance schemes would be introduced in the quake-hit areas. The Khushhali Bank would provide Rs3 billion loans on easy terms and low mark-up to enable people re-start business.

He said negotiations with the Crescent Bank were also under way for provision of loans worth between Rs100,000 and Rs500,000.

Medium and small enterprises would be restored and cottage industry promoted.

The banking system would be re-established and strengthened. The micro finance schemes would also cover the agriculture sector. “I believe that the people will not like to shift to big cities if their income level is taken to what they were earning before the natural calamity,” he said.

The rehabilitation and reconstruction authority has registered various firms for supply of different building material to different quake-hit areas.

Earlier, the president ICCI, Abdul Rauf, in his address of welcome said the basic purpose of the meeting was to introduce the authority chairman to manufacturers and suppliers of building material to be used in quake-hit areas.