Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday inaugurated a 40-bed pre-fabricated hospital constructed with Japanese assistance to provide healthcare to the people in the quake-affected area.
The prime minister and Japanese ambassador Seiji Kojima jointly opened the facility that has male and female wards and a fully equipped with operation theatre to cater to the medical needs.
It has been constructed in place of District Headquarters hospital Batgram. The prime minister was on a visit to Azad Jammu and Kashmir on the first anniversary of the horrific October 8 quake that killed over 73,000 people to personally see the pace of reconstruction.
Shaukat Aziz thanked the Japanese government for its assistance and said as a result of Pakistan's successful foreign policy, the entire international community supported the country in its hour of need. Aziz praised the role of doctors, paramedics, nurses and volunteers, who worked day and night to help the wounded.
He said the reconstruction phase was a challenging task but the government was determined to meet it and change the lives of the people for the betterment.
"We are fully alive to the problems of the masses affected by the last year's earthquake and making all out efforts to mitigate their sufferings," he added.
He praised the efforts of the people of Pakistan, the international community and the army in helping the government in the face of this gigantic challenge.
On rehabilitation efforts, he said that 90 percent of the homeless survivors had been provided shelter while the remaining would also be accommodated soon.
Earlier, the prime minister inaugurated a model school constructed with the assistance of USAID in Dadar, signifying government's priority towards education.
He was also appreciative of the role of the United States and other aid agencies and countries that poured out all assistance for the quake affected people of AJK and NWFP.
He said provision of education was the first priority of the government and in one month's time schools started to reopen in all the relief camps.
He said illiterate nations could never progress and it was vital that whatever the situation, the young are given free access to education.
US ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker said the US government, non-governmental organisations, corporations, and ordinary people from around the world responded with an outpouring of assistance.
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