MANSEHRA, July 17: The district government, on the directives of the provincial government, has set July 25 as the deadline for winding up the Jabba Tent Village and asked 325 families affected by the 2005 earthquake to leave the camp.

The displaced families, on the other hand, have refused to leave the village until Rs75,000 is paid to each of them as compensation.

“We do not have land to build our houses on and if the government wants us to leave the tent village, then it must pay us Rs75,000 in compensation,” said a member of one of the displaced families.

The DCO for Mansehra called members of the Committee for Rights of Jabba Tent Village in his office on Tuesday and asked them to vacate the village by July 25.

The DCO also told them that after the deadline, all facilities of the camp would be withdrawn and the compensation amount for the landless would not be paid to them.

Displaced families have reacted strongly to the government’s decision to wind up the tent village, pledging that they would resist the government move.

Talking to this correspondent, members of the committee said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf, during a visit to Mansehra, had announced that until the compensation amount of Rs75000 was paid to all displaced families living in the tent villages, they would not be asked to leave.

They said that contrary to the president’s announcement, the district administration wanted to expel the displaced people living in their tent village.

They said the displaced families living in the Jabba tent village had not filled up forms for the compensation amount for the landless as Erra had demanded affidavits which affirmed that they did not own land. They added that they would resist all government moves to expel them by force.