MUZAFFARABAD, May 13: Three of the 1,200 houses being built from the funds provided by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) under the transitional housing scheme were formally handed over to their owners here on Sunday.

The director general, International Organisation for Migration, Brunson McKinley handed over the keys of the shelters -- each comprising two rooms, a kitchen and a small veranda with a total floor space of 360 sq feet -- to the heads of the three families in the Chehla Bandi locality at a brief ceremony.

Chahla Bandi witnessed the worst destruction during the October 2005 earthquake and falls in the red zone.

The chairman, Muzaffarabad Development Authority, Zahid Amin, said that SIDA shelters would be provided to survivors from the red zone owning at least 5 marla of clear land. An official of the International Organisation for Migration, Connor Fyans told Dawn that 20 more shelters, each costing $4,000, were nearing completion, and added that his organisation would meet the target of building 1,200 shelters by the end of the year.

Earlier, speaking to survivors Mr McKinley recalled that when he first visited Muzaffarabad in Nov 2005 there were scenes of destruction everywhere but it was amazing to see after one and a half year that how people had come back to life.

He said though the share of the International Organisation for Migration was little, but the organisation felt proud of what it had done for return of normalcy in the area, which had been hit by the worst-ever natural disaster.

He said: "Real work has been done and real credit goes to you, the resilient people of Muzaffarabad, who have survived tough times."