Wednesday, May 7, 2008, Rabi-ul-Sani 30, 1429    

ERRA spent $2.04b on different projects in quake hit areas: Nadeem

Islamabad—Deputy Chairman Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmad says substantial progress has been made during the last two years in the reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the quake hit areas of AJK and NWFP.
Addressing a news conference here Tuesday, he said so far 2.04 billion dollars have been spent on different projects in the area.
He expressed satisfaction the work done in twelve sectors of reconstruction and rehabilitation in the area including housing, livelihood, health, road network, water supply, sanitation, power infrastructure, telecom infrastructure, environment and social protection.
He said ERRA started reconstruction and rehabilitation work in April 2006 and according to plan it will take three to five years to complete. He said all contracts of various projects will be awarded upto April next year and hoped that these will be completed by April 2011. Only mega projects like Muzaffarabad city which will take fifty-six months to complete will remain.
Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmad said not a penny has been embezzled. However, he said, Audit Report has pointed out irregularities of six hundred million rupees. He said these are only procedural and technical mistakes and Departmental Accounts Committee will hold meeting with the Auditor General to resolve the matter.
He said ERRA now has a quite capable human resource to meet the challenges in case of any disaster. He said schools and hospitals now built in the quake hit areas are giving better services than before.
Deputy Chairman ERRA said total amount of 56.4 billion rupees have been disbursed among five lakh seventy-six thousand five hundred and eleven beneficiaries of damaged houses. Four lakh sixty-two thousand nine hundred houses have been completed and the remaining houses by June this year. He said ERRA also kept in view fault line, slope gradient and flood prone areas while constructing houses.
He said four cities Muzaffarabad, Balakot, Bagh and Rawalkot have been planned and land acquisitioned and work is in progress.
He said ERRA is behind target in education sector. So far one hundred and sixty-five educational institutional have been completed out of planned four thousand and eighty-three. He said thirty-health facilities have been completed out of damaged three hundred and seven.
He said under social protection programme eighteen legal aid centres are working in the quake affected area.—NNI