‘The timely completion of ongoing projects will be ensured in earthquake affected areas’: Deputy Chairman ERRA

“The timely completion of the on going projects is ERRA’s foremost priority and all the resources will be utilized to remove impediments in the way of reconstruction”, Lt. General Sardar Mahmood Ali Khan (HI) M Deputy Chairman ERRA said while his visit to earthquake affected areas in Kyhber Pakhtun Khwa (KPK) province on Thursday.

In the first phase of his visit to Abbottabad, he inspected several ongoing construction projects of the High Court Building destroyed by the October 8, 2005 earthquake. Chief Engineer Zard Ali Khan gave a detailed briefing about the project. Commissioner Hazara Muhammad Khalid Khan Umerzai and DG PERRA Kafayat-ullah Khan were also present on the occasion. He also visited the Abbottabad Central Jail construction project and directed them to not only increase the pace but also to remove the incumbent hurdles in the project. He reiterated that timely completion of all ongoing projects will be ensured. Deputy Chairman ERRA was briefed in detail by DG PERRA Kafayat –ullah Khan at Provincial Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (PERRA) headquarter about ongoing reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. Five districts of KPK province were affected by the earthquake in which ERRA undertook 6382 projects, out of which 4000 have been successfully completed and several others are towards completion. Other than that 350,000 seismic proof homes were also constructed.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani while addressing the recently held “ERRA Donors and Sponsors Conference” said that reconstruction and rehabilitation in 9 districts of earthquake affected areas in AJ&K and KPK would not have been possible without cooperation of national and international community and donor agencies.  He added that ERRA, in a very short time has earned the appreciation of international community in the field of disaster management. The Government of Pakistan has complete confidence in ERRA thus it has increased the ambit of ERRA to a national scale and has decided to give it a permanent status. ERRA is being renamed as National Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (NRRA).