PESHAWAR, Nov 17: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has approved appointment of additional staff for civil services departments in the quake-hit areas of the province.

Besides, he issued directives for constructing and repairing roads, identifying sites for reconstruction and removing debris of destroyed infrastructure.

Presiding over a joint meeting of the federal and provincial Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authorities, the chief minister ordered notification of two district committees for rehabilitation of the services sector in the affected zones. The meeting decided to accelerate the pace of rehabilitation work in education, health, irrigation, communications and other sectors.

The chief minister said the provincial government had set aside 4,400 kanals for various projects. He said a strategy would be prepared for acquisition of 14,000 kanals of private land for the purpose.

He said Rs1 billion would be needed for the purpose and asked the federal government to provide the required funds.

He said that all matters should be settled with the owners according to the market value of the land through talks.

He also directed the quarters concerned to identify site for reconstruction of services department offices and the task forces formed for the purpose to intensify rehabilitation work and complete it within a week.

Mr Durrani said efforts for resolving disputes between land owners and tenants should be accelerated so that the rehabilitation work could be completed smoothly.