Our Correspondent
Muzaffarabad
The Prime Minister AJ&K, Raja Farooq Haider Thursday inaugurated the state of the art, Govt. Girls High School (GGHS) Plate Muzaffarabad, reconstructed at cost of Pak Rs. 51 million by SERRA/ERRA with the financing support from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The ceremony was held at the GGHS Plate, with Prime Minister AJK, as a Chief Guest.
The Minister, Elementary & Secondary Education Barrister Iftikhar Gillani, Secretary SERRA, Mr. Amjad Pervaiz Khan, Secretary Elementary & Secondary Education Zahid Khan Abbasi,Prime Minister Monitoring & Implementation Commison & Member ERRA Board, Mir Zahid Amin, & Abid Ghani Mir Director SERRA AJ&K Government Officials, Deputy Secretary Economic Affairs Division, Mr.Abdul Salam, IsDB Group Representative in Pakistan, Mr. Inamullah Khan, and a large number of the students and teachers attended the ceremony.
Addressing the Ceremony, the Prime Minister AJ&K said that today, we are celebrating 15th Remembrance day of the catastrophic earthquake of October 8, 2005 that resulted in major devastation including valuable loss of lives and injuries (46,570 deaths and 33,136 people injured) with public and private infrastructure destructed in AJ&K. On this occasion the Prime Minister thanked overwhelming response from national and international community through their relief, recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation activities that helped the State to accommodate and compensate the losses to bring back normalcy to the life in earthquake affected areas with the state of the art reconstructed facilities.
Education sector was the worst affected in terms of human and infrastructure losses. 2798 educational institutions were badly damaged/affected by the earthquake including the GGHS Plate. The Prime Minister AJ&K thanked the Secretary General OIC and President IsDB for the generous support extended to the GoAJ&K for reconstruction of GGHS Plate. The IsDB has also assisted in reconstruction of more than 315 schools throughout AJK as well as improving the quality of education. The DG/Secretary SERRA brief the Prime Minister about reconstruction of GGHS Plate with the support of OIC and IsDB that can accommodate over 400 students from primary up to high school level.
M/S NESPAK provided design &implementation supervision services while M/S Muhammad Imran & Co. constructed the school building. The total covered area of the school is 20,040 Sft including 10 Class Rooms with block of 10 Washrooms, one each Principal Office, Admin Office, Staff Room, Science Lab, Computer Lab, and Library.
