President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday said that the earthquake challenge had been converted into an opportunity by rebuilding the lives of the earthquake-affected people on modern lines in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the NWFP.
Talking to media persons after inaugurating the Jalalabad Park here, he said that better houses, state-of-the-art infrastructure, including roads network, healthcare facilities and educational institutions were being reconstructed in the quake-affected areas.
The President said that the United Nations and other international organisations had termed Pakistan's efforts for the reconstruction of quake-devastated areas better as compared to the efforts carried out in the aftermath of Katrina and Tsunami.
He said that the whole nation deserved commendation as it was galvanised in the wake of the earthquake tragedy and reached out to the earthquake victims. Earlier in Mansehra in the morning, the President performed the ground-breaking ceremony of 65 km long Naran-Balakot road which was destroyed in the earthquake. The road would cost Rs 2.3 billion.
Later, he inaugurated a secondary school at Chitta Watta near Mansehra, to be constructed by the Turkish government. President Musharraf lauded the efforts of Turkish government and its vital assistance in the reconstruction phase.
He said that the nation showed unmatched resolve and determination to meet the challenge of earthquake tragedy, and termed it highly commendable.
He said that those elements, who painted a doomsday scenario in the wake of the natural calamity, must come and see the reconstruction efforts in the area where earthquake-resistant houses, modern healthcare and educational facilities and infrastructure were being constructed.
The President said that with resolve and determination, the government had converted the earthquake tragedy into an opportunity.