Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the distribution of the next instalment of funds for the reconstruction of houses damaged by the October 8 earthquake will start in the first week of April.
This decision was taken in a meeting of the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) chaired by the prime minister on Wednesday. “The government will also launch a scheme for cash grants of Rs 3,000 per month in April to vulnerable families,” an official statement said.
ERRA Deputy Chairman Maj Gen Nadeem Ahmed presented strategies for the restoration of the quake-affected areas. He briefed the meeting on the rural housing reconstruction strategy, health strategy, education strategy and livelihood and cash grants strategy. “In the rural housing reconstruction sector, the initial list of beneficiaries, who were given Rs 25,000 for the reconstruction of damaged houses, will serve as a baseline for further disbursements,” the official statement said. It said that training centres have been set up in NWFP and Kashmir to ensure better construction and adoption of new building codes.
The meeting was informed that plans have been finalised to build 99 hospitals in NWFP and 116 in Kashmir. At least 61 hospitals in NWFP and 33 in Kashmir will be provided retrofitting facilities. More facilities for paraplegics and paralysed people will be created. The estimated cost of reconstruction in the health sector is Rs 305 million, the meeting was told. In the education sector, engineering surveys of damaged schools will be initiated soon and Rs 567 million will be required for reconstruction. The meeting was informed that ERRA is coordinating with all potential donors to the reconstruction process. All projects under the sponsorship scheme will be displayed on the ERRA website, which will be launched soon. Reports of seismic surveys conducted by Turkey, China, Norway and the NESPAK were also presented.
Source: Daily Times
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