According to a preliminary assessment by World Bank and Asian Development Bank, the damage caused by the October 8 earthquake would exceed $5 billion.
Dr Salman Shah, advisor to the Prime Minister on finance, stated this at a news conference here on Friday along with World Bank Country Director John Wall and Country Director Pakistan Resident Mission ADB Peter Fedon.
The assessment was developed in preparation for the November 19 international donor''s conference, to be held in Islamabad, to which representatives from more than 70 nations have been invited to attend, he said.
According to the assessment, Pakistan will require more than $3.5 billion to restore and reconstruct the countryside. It will need more than $90 million to revive means of livelihood lost in the quake. These costs are in addition to the $1.6 billion the United Nations has estimated would need to be spent on relief efforts.
The report estimates the loss of public and private assets at $2.3 billion, and loss in income at $0.5 billion; the cost of short and medium term reconstruction of private and public assets, estimated at $3.5 billion; and the cost of livelihoods restoration program at $97 million.
Private housing, with damage calculated at Rs 61.2 billion ($1.03 billion), suffered the most extensive damage. The earthquake destroyed 203,579 units of housing, damaged another 196,574 and left an estimated 2.8 million people in need of shelter.
The transport, education, and agriculture and livestock sectors also suffered sizeable damage, totalling Rs 20.2 billion ($340 million), Rs 19.9 billion ($335 million), and Rs 12.9 billion ($218 million), respectively.
The cost of reconstruction of lost assets and the restoration of public services is estimated at Rs 208.1 billion ($3.5 billion). A substantial portion of these funds is needed for housing reconstruction, which will cost an estimated Rs 92 billion ($1.6 billion).
This joint damage and needs assessment was carried out between October 24 and November 5 at the request of Pakistan government and aims at providing decision-makers and stakeholders with a quantitative basis of which to design a comprehensive reconstruction strategy and to request assistance.
Salman said that besides ADB and WB, experts from the local and national government and other international organisations also participated in this assessment.
These organisations included the European Union, the United Kingdom''s Department for International Development (DflD), the German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ), the German KfW, the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the UN Children''s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and other UN agencies. According to these institutions, estimates are still preliminary and likely to rise as more of the damaged areas are surveyed.
The report highlights that those who have borne the brunt of the quake''s impact are "vulnerable groups, mainly women and children living in inaccessible mountain areas with low levels of income and service provision."
Shah said that direct damage to public and private properties totalled over $2.2 billion. "We will never be able to recover the horrible human cost of more than 73,000 dead. While mourning these losses, we must work together to rebuild the physical structures and the livelihoods lost in the in the earthquake and its aftermath," he said.
There has already been a tremendous outpouring of support from the global community, which has so far resulted in pledged cash assistance of more than $2 billion. However, a lot more assistance is still needed as the complexity of the disaster continues to unfold.
Reconstruction and redevelopment is critical and is estimated to be along-term process taking several years. The multi-donor conference in Islamabad on November 19 is aimed at increasing financial resources for the medium to long term reconstruction and rehabilitation programs.
"We welcome the assessment and suggestions made by the Asian Development Bank and World Bank and the tremendous financial support they and other members of the international community have shown Pakistan," said Shah. "We value their continuing help as we focus on the recovery and reconstruction of the area and as we work to restore hope and rebuild the lives of all those impacted."
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