ABBOTTABAD, Dec 23: The efforts to deal with the challenge of building capacity in the local government offices across the quake-hit areas of the country are gathering momentum thanks to an international initiative.

Hundreds of government buildings were severely damaged or destroyed when last year’s calamity tore through the NWFP and Azad Kashmir, crippling administration infrastructure in an area which was already poorly resourced.

However, an 18-month project – jointly funded by the United Nations Development Programme and the European Commission – seeks to restore capacity to the infrastructure by providing offices, equipment and training under a $5.4 million support package.

The first of 155 prefabricated office units for the NWFP, manufactured in Italy, were delivered and installed in mid-October in local government offices in the quake-hit areas of Mansehra, Battagram and Balakot districts.

The units, typically measuring 3.6 metres by 6m, come complete with office furniture for four staff, a PC and seating for eight visitors. Some offices are also fitted with washrooms and air-conditioning equipment.

Installation of the prefabricated office units in Mansehra and Battagram districts was under way, with all office units set to be delivered by mid-January, the United Nations coordinator for the province, Anwar-ul-Haq, told IRIN, the information unit of the world body.

The programme would focus on rebuilding capacity at the local level, providing a level of structure, equipment and training that would allow a higher degree of efficiency than before the earthquake struck, he claimed. The initiative is being mirrored across Azad Kashmir, also devastated by the last year’s disaster.

Mr Haq said: “Some local government officials have still been sitting in tents. But this project is not just about restoring government infrastructure and improving working conditions after the emergency, it is also designed to promote a change in culture and greater efficiency''.

Some local government offices had not been equipped with computers before the earthquake, he noted.

Meanwhile, training was also being conducted for key representatives and elected members of regional government and national non-government organisations (NGOs), in a further effort to bring best practice to the grass-roots level.

An additional part of the project will focus on restoring the lost records of up to 1.5 million people across the quake zone. A Pakistani academic with government experience, Musharraf Cyan, is set to arrive from New York at the end of this week to begin data and record assessments across the NWFP.

Haq said that there was much work still to be done in the new year ahead, but he was pleased with progress.

Earlier this month the British government's Department for International Development (DFID) also expressed a “willingness to fund” an extension of the programme across Abbottabad, Kohistan and Shangla districts in the NWFP, which were also hit by the earthquake.—PPI