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PESHAWAR, Oct 7: Lengthy procedures and lack of cooperation among provincial government departments and Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority’s (Erra) subsidiary organisations have hampered swift execution of public sector infrastructure development schemes in earthquake-affected areas, according to official sources.
Officials of district reconstruction units, a subsidiary of Erra set up in all the eight affected districts, told Dawn that reconstruction activities relating to public sector buildings could not pick up momentum largely because of alleged non- cooperation by provincial government’s departments.
On the other hand, officials of district governments blamed Erra and its subsidiaries for the slow pace of work on restoring public sector infrastructure.
PLAN: Erra has chalked out a three-year reconstruction plan envisaging reconstruction of some 6,500 school buildings of, over 550 health facilities, thousands of water supply schemes and over 4,500km of roads in Azad Kashmir and NWFP.
According to the plan, 25 per cent of the schemes are to be completed during first year ending on June 30, 2007. However, official circles in Mansehra district government have expressed scepticism about achieving the first year’s target in view of the slow progress on most of the schemes which are still in the planning stage.
Official documents reveal that out of a total of 1,192 school buildings to be built in Mansehra district some 450 buildings have to be completed in the first year. Of them 246 buildings have been out-sourced to foreign donor agencies and local non-governmental organisations, whereas, 204 buildings would be constructed by the government through Erra.
Funds for these 204 school buildings would be provided by Erra whereas, execution of the schemes would be undertaken by the provincial government’s education department in the NWFP.
Out of the 246 school buildings to be constructed by NGOs and foreign donors, only five buildings have been completed so far including two funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID) at Dadar, two at Sandasir by a Turkish agency and one at Garhi Habibullah.
Similarly, among the 204 school buildings in public sector, most of the schemes are in the conceptual stage and by the end of last month PC-1 of only 36 schemes had been prepared. No work has been yet started.
Out of 124 buildings of health facilities to be reconstructed in Mansehra district, 48 schemes, which have been outsourced to private donors, would be completed in the first year.
However, work on most of the schemes has not yet commenced as project documents of only 16 schemes have so far been completed.
