The government has decided to merge Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) into National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) from December 31, 2019.

Moreover, the ERRA after the passage of 14 years has decided to start construction work on New Balakot City project on public private partnership basis costing $3 billions. Chairman ERRA Lt General Mohammad Afzal said this while chairing the 25th ERRA Board of Directors meeting here on Thursday.

The chairman ERRA, who is also heading NDMA, said that ERRA which was created on October 24, 2005 to rehabilitate and reconstruct the October 8, 2005 earthquake-hit areas in Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) will be subsumed in NDMA by 31st December 2019.

Afzal said that excluding the financial matters, all the other activities of ERRA will be taken over by NDMA from December 31, 2019, adding that rest of the matters will be finalized by the end of fiscal year 2019-20.

The chairman while briefing ERRA board members on the subsuming of ERRA into NDMA said that in the light of federal cabinet's decision, the process of subsuming of ERRA into NDMA is already under process which will be completed by the end of this year.

Budgetary and financial modalities will be finalized by the end of current financial year. While discussing the future of the ERRA staff, the chairman NDMA said that existing staff will be adjusted into proposed National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as well as other wings that are proposed for future structure of NDMA.

The main agenda of 25th meeting of ERRA Board was development of New Balakot City project on public private partnership (PPP) basis. The plan has already been discussed and approved by the Prime Minister in principle. The board members have agreed that this project will be a new tourism hub and will be completed taking all stakeholders, including KPK government and earthquake-affected people of old Balakot city, into confidence.

The chairman said that the project will be established on self-financing model which will also contribute 1% of total annual GDP which is approximately around US $ 3 billion. He also informed the participants that he envisages a three-tier self-financing model for NDMA as well, wherein all operational and disaster management expenditures and compensations would be met from NDMA's own resources.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019