According to a Recorder Report from Islamabad, a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, took strong exception to the bogus payments of Rs 94.125 million to 1,255 non-entitled people only in Muzaffarabad, and other noted irregularities by the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA).
On his part, Chaudhry Nisar also pointed out that international donors were reluctant to give money for earthquake victims because of its possible misuse. As such, while directing the Erra authorities to recover the amount and to initiate action against those responsible for paying it to non-entitled persons, he also asked the Erra deputy chairman to compile a comprehensive report in the matter, besides informing the PAC in its next meeting after two months about the disbursed money as well as the action taken against responsible persons to avoid a special audit into these matters.
The news report also had it that the meeting on reviewing audit paras of the Erra and Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), regretted that Erra officials had flouted rules and regulations to avail of perks and privileges from earthquake victims' fund. It viewed the absence of effective Management Information System (MIS) as another loophole the authority failed to plug, resulting in lack of information about Rs 3.311 billion for Housing Reconstruction Cash Grant, besides impeding banks in tracking the misused funds.
The PAC chairman directed Erra to track down Rs 3.31 billion funds and inform the committee about the details in next meeting, so as to ensure against wastage of public money. He proposed a meeting among the Ministry of Finance, Erra and the Audit Department to remove dichotomy in their rules and regulations.
The audit observed that basic manual record as provided by Assistance and Inspection Teams (AIT) lacked information, as identification of beneficiaries was missing in many cases and the agreement forms were not signed either by the government representative or by the owners of the houses.
Shocking though these revelations may sound to some, the fact remains that disquieting incidents of public annoyance over disarray in post-havoc relief and rehabilitation had been coming in with little evidence of any concrete rectification.
According one report, police in Muzaffarabad fired warning shots and charged with batons on April 21, 2006, as hundreds of earthquake survivors took to the streets demanding compensation payments. Shopkeepers also went on strike in protest at tax demands and utility bills issued despite desperate conditions since the massive quake which killed more than 73,000 people.
Protesters burned tyres and blocked roads leading to Jhelum and Neelum valleys and Kohala district, grinding public transport to a halt. Police fired into the air and used truncheons to disperse some 1,000 protesters in Garhi Dupatta, 24 kilometers south of Muzaffarabad and the nearby town of Majoi.
Almost all shops were closed as authorities issued notices to pay taxes, traders said. Some 700 people at a rally on the main Bank Road also criticised the power supply department for sending utility bills to owners of buildings destroyed in the disaster.
Yet another report had it that in 2006, a day ahead of the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake, hundreds of survivors of the 2005 earthquake staged an anti-graft protest in Islamabad, accusing reconstruction officials of corruption. Waving placards reading "Stop taking bribes", "Spend the winter with us" and "Build our homes before snowfall", the demonstrators marched from Parliament to the ERRA office. Notably, a month after the disaster, international donors had pledged $6.5 billion to Pakistan to help it through the relief, recovery and reconstruction phases of the crisis.
However, many protesters said they were not receiving enough assistance. Another 2,000 people staged a rally in Muzaffarabad to express their resolve to rebuild their devastated city. Earlier, another 200 students rallied to pay tribute to their colleagues who lost their lives in the earthquake.
It will be recalled that in May 2006 ERRA started the disbursement of livelihood cash grants to the most distressed and needy families in the earthquake affected areas. The Authority released a sum of Rs 179,112,000 to the Board of Revenue, Peshawar and Board of Revenue, Muzaffarabad for disbursement of the 1st instalment of livelihood cash grant to 59,704 eligible families through their bank accounts maintained with various commercial banks and post offices.
Each eligible family was supposed to get Rs 3000 per month for six months and the total number of families which were expected to benefit from this programme stood at 250,000. Then the current list was stated to have included 35,059 beneficiaries from Mansehra and 24,645 from Muzaffarabad.
At the same time, it had been revealed that data in respect of remaining beneficiaries from these two districts and other affected districts was being collected and processed and that the payments to the other eligible families would be made soon.
All in all, it will be noted that the PAC have had enough reason to grill the ERRA on reported irregularities on such a vital national issue as relief and rehabilitation of the horrendous earthquake that had also thoroughly shaken the international community to rush with massive rescue, relief and rehabilitation assistance, to help Pakistan in that grave hour of need.