ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have assured quake victims on the eve of second anniversary of the October 8 tragedy that the government will not forget them.

They hoped that the international community would continue to cooperate till the end of reconstruction and rehabilitation operations in quake-hit areas.

Gen Musharraf in his message said: “We as a nation can also hold our heads with pride that we faced this challenge with dignity, honour, courage and an unmatched spirit of patriotism.”

He said it was a long and arduous task to rebuild an area spreading 30,000 square kilometres, which had been reduced to debris and rehabilitate 3.5 million people living across one of the most difficult terrains of the world.

Gen Musharraf said he felt satisfied that within a short period of time, hundreds and thousands of seismically-safe structures, including houses, hospitals, educational institutions, roads, bridges and water supply schemes had been reconstructed.

He noted that the ongoing process of development had been bringing about phenomenal socio-economic changes in the entire area.

“The reconstruction process has generated new opportunities of self-reliance and self-confidence among the people of affected areas.”

Affiliation of more than half a million people with the reconstruction business had ushered in new era of economic activities in the area which would help improve the living standard of the people, he said.

He assured that the government would utilise every resources at its disposal to provide victims even better facilities than they had enjoyed in the past.

Mr Aziz in his message applauded the unprecedented contribution made by the people of Pakistan and the world over in its hour of need.

He said the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts undertaken by Erra were quite impressive and reflected tremendous cooperation among all institutions of the federal government and governments of the NWFP and the AJK.