MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 10: AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan has stressed the need for joint reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. He was addressing a briefing arranged by State Earthquake reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (Serra) here on Thursday.

The AJK premier also called for accelerating efforts by governments, NGOs and other volunteer organisations besides directing the authorities concerned to keep roads open in the Neelam Valley and other remote areas in the rainy season to mitigate the survivors’ problems.

The premier also urged the officials to start work on the dualisation of the Kohala-Muzaffarabad road.

He also directed the authorities to look into the matter of exempting fees of students belonging to the quake-hit areas of Azad Kashmir and studying in various educational institutions in Pakistan.

Serra’s Director-General Sardar Siddique Ahmed Khan briefed the premier about the progress and future plansg being adopted by the Agency to speed up the process accordingly.

The meeting was told that 5,000 temporary prefabricated houses being provided by Saudi Arabia would start arriving in Muzaffarabad by the end of August.

The meeting was informed that some 2,000 houses would also be provided by Qatar for the quake survivors.

The Commissioner Camp Management Organisation Sardar Mohammad Nawaz Khan told the meeting that more than 6,000 people had already been relocated from hazardous areas to safer locations.

Deputy Commissioner Muzaffarabad Fayyaz Ali Abbasi briefed the premier about the resettlement plan of the quake survivors.

The AJK prime minister was informed that the work to remove debris from Muzaffarabad was in progress and a $40 million agreement had been signed with the USAID.

The meeting was informed that 24 centres had been set up to ensure the availability of construction material at control rates. It was also told that some 21,000 people had been trained in different trades.— APP