President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) bill giving it the status of a permanent body. Speaking at the farewell ceremony held in his honour here Thursday Deputy Chairman ERRA Lieutenant General Haroon Aslam said that it was in recognition of ERRA work which got the status of permanent organisation after approval from lower and upper houses.
He said that now ERRA would not only work in AJK and earthquake hit areas but it would be responsible to render services in other parts of the country in case of any calamity. He said that due to financial constraints the pace of ERRA projects is slow which would be expedited as soon as they got the money. The Deputy Chairman said that despite financial constraints, the ERRA's overall handling of the projects was satisfactory, adding it had become a credible organisation with capability of conducting international level projects.
Talking about the ongoing projects of ERRA Lieutenant General Haroon said that 20 percent schools have been completed in Earthquake affected areas whereas 80 percent work on majority of the remaining projects has also been completed and would be completed on provision of funds. He informed that King Abdullah University with the allocation of $66 million and Rawalakot campus of Azad Jammu and Kashmir University, earmarking $15 million, is under progress, which would be completed with in a month.