Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Dr Maleeha Lodhi expressed the Pakistan Government's gratitude and indebtedness to the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for their unstinting support and assistance in the aftermath of last year's devastating earthquake in Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas.
"The help and the co-operation rendered by a multitude of international and local NGOs will never be forgotten by the people of Pakistan and those devastated by October 8 natural calamity," she told a gathering at a briefing on the earthquake relief work organised by Pakistan Society at the Pakistan High Commission on Wednesday evening.
A resume of the reconstruction work undertaken by Oxfam and Islamic Relief was given on the occasion. The High Commissioner said the international community showed extraordinary solidarity in Pakistan's hour of need. She added the response of the British Government, the British people; NGOs and the Muslim community had been tremendous.
Dr Lodhi said although one year had passed since the tragedy, a lot remains to be done as 3.5 million people rendered homeless needed to be resettled in proper homes. In his regard, she said Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) was now busy in rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure under a phased manner.
On this occasion, Oxfam representative Step Haiseldon, a structural engineer by profession, explained through slide show the assistance rendered by the international charity organisation to the quake victims. He praised Pakistan Army for its extreme efficiency in organising the relief work in a co-ordinated manner.
He said the Oxfam-designed latrines were especially useful in controlling the sanitation in the tented camps and prevented the spread of any disease and squalor. Haiseldon, who spent six months in the quake-affected areas, underscored the need of massive re-forestation and said landslides would continue to occur unless trees were planted on a large scale.
Islamic Relief representative Abdul Mannan noted that the charity had in the past one year implemented 28 million pounds worth of relief and development projects in the earthquake affected areas.
"We established 287 large tents in Bagh and Muzaffarabad for use as temporary schools in addition to providing earth moving equipment. We also trained 1900 persons in masonry, carpentry and other vocational skills needed to meet the immediate requirement." He further said Islamic Relief built 24,000 quake resistance transitional shelters over the past one year, helped restore lost livelihood and empowered communities to become self-reliant.