Pakistan asked for donor assistance to complete the remaining infrastructure of the on-going projects in the areas being hit by devastating earthquake in 2005. This was stated by Chairman Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra), Hamid Yar Hiraj while speaking at a donor conference organised by Erra here on Tuesday, where a comprehensive briefing was given to the donors and sponsors.
International donors like USAID, UNICEF, UNDP, JICA, European Commission, Word Bank, IDB. SDC, CIDA have been active partners with Erra in reconstruction and rehabilitation of the earthquake affected areas of AJ&K and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The conference was largely attended by over 70 international partners along with Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Oman, Finland and Bosnia.
Country Representatives from UNDP, Senior Institutional Development Specialist Raja Rehan Arshad from World Bank, Shahid Ahmed country representative IDB, Deepak Bajracharya Office in charge and Chief Field Operations UNICEF and Rodney Dyer Infrastructure and Environment Advisor DFID were also present on the occasion.
Newly-appointed Chairman Erra, Hamid Yar Hiraj said that so far the authority has completed many projects and wants to continue work with international partners in the future as well. Hamid Hiraj said that the pace of reconstruction had slowed in the past due to paucity of funds, however, with funds being made available and political backing of the Government of Pakistan would help in accelerating the work in coming days.
Answering a question about old Balakot, the chairman said people are emotionally attached to the homeland and it is difficult to relocate people by force, adding that media could play a positive role in mass awareness regarding old Balakot, as hazardous land for concrete building for being situated on red zone.
He said that in the coming few months, reconstruction of new Balakot City will be started after settling funding and land issues. Apprising the multilateral and bilateral development partners of the progress achieved by Erra, Chief of Staff Erra Brigadier Massoud Ahmed, said that the authority has achieved more than 97 percent progress in rural housing sector, while 6,441 projects have been completed in urban housing, 1,581 in education, 4002 in water and sanitation, 363 in governance, 142 in environment, 117 in transport and 70 in livelihood.
The conference was informed that so far Erra has established two 50 bed rehabilitation centres, four resource information centres, six basic rehab units, women resource centres. Women development complexes are being established in 9 affected districts to provide legal, medical, special education, psychological counselling, referral services and vocational training for vulnerable women, children and the elderly.
Deputy Chairman Erra, Lieutenant General Muhammad Haroon Aslam briefing the delegates said that Pakistan was passing through the toughest time for last seven years due to natural disasters and terror activities. He said that current devastating floods have added to Pakistan's problems.
He said that Erra during the last five years turned into a specialised organisation, fully capable to face any disaster, adding Erra model can be applied elsewhere in the world including reconstruction and rehabilitation of the flood affected areas.
Chairman Erra Hamid Yar Hiraj appreciated the positive role of the donors and sponsors in reconstruction and rehabilitation of Pakistan and said that with one point agenda Erra is focused on completing the ongoing projects within a time line of two years. He said that recent initiatives such as establishment of transparency cell and ISO Certification beyond January aim at making Erra a more vibrant organisation.
Senior Institutional Development Specialist World Bank Raja Rehan Arshad, Office Incharge and Chief Field Operations UNICEF Deepak Bajracharya and Country Representative IDB Shahid Ahmed ensured their full support in future and praised it as being a post-disaster model of excellence for the world to emulate. The donors and sponsors showed overall satisfaction on new management and its vision.
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