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Islamabad seeks AJK political parties cooperation in rehabilitation process
ISLAMABAD Dec 04 : The federal government has sought cooperation from all political parties of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir for the rehabilitation of the earthquake affected people and reconstruction of quake hit areas.
"We sought cooperation from all segments of society including political parties of the AJK to work out a consensus strategy for the equal distribution of the resources for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of earthquake hit areas," said Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Makhdoom Syed Faisal Salah Hayat while addressing a press conference after the AJK all parties conference here.
The October 8 earthquake had caused such devastation that the government machinery in AJK was collapsed and the administration could not work for a number of days.
Officials of the Federal Relief Commission (FRC) and Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) have briefed the participants about their future plans regarding rehabilitation and reconstruction in Azad Kashmir.
"The purpose of the meeting was to have interactions with the AJK political parties, for seeking their suggestions to face the challenge posed by October 8 earthquake devastations," said Makhdoom Faisal Salah Hayat. He asked all the political and religious parties to shun differences and join hands with the government in order to accelerate the reconstruction and rehabilitation process.
The minister said all aspects of rehabilitation and reconstruction including area-wise setting of priority and distribution of funds came under discussion. "The conference participants reached consensus on the rehabilitation of people on priority basis and decided not to relocate the people at other places rather than their home town," he added.
He said the participants of the meeting also appreciated the government efforts for providing the relief to the people and at the same time they also shown their reservations while giving suggestions for further improvement in ongoing process of rehabilitation and reconstruction.
The minister said the rehabilitation of the affected people is the top priority of the government and wanted to involve them in this process, which would take long time but the government is committed to facing this challenge. "The relief process would continue for five more months while the rehabilitation and reconstruction would also continue," he added.
He said initially RS25,000 to each affected person have been given and the remaining amount of Rs150,000 along with construction map will also be given for the construction of the houses.
Faisal said that so far Rs7 billion had been distributed among the earthquake affected people. He said it was decided principally that development of the cities would be made on the same location and these would not be shifted.
"The seismic survey report would be finalized within a month and new constructions would be made on the basis of these reports and all the new building would be constructed earthquake proof," he said.
He said all the rehabilitation and reconstruction process would be made through the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. "The Pakistan Army was not involved in the reconstruction process, but all the institutions working are under the guidelines of the AJK government and assist them in the process of reconstruction," he added.
He said the committee headed by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was given new shape in which Adviser to Prime Minister Dr Suleman Shah, AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat and NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani were also members of the rehabilitation and reconstruction committee.
Makhdoom Faisal Salah Hayat have all praised for religious parties including Jammat Al-Dawah and Al-Rasheed Trust, saying that in future these religious welfare organizations would be made part of the rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Regarding opening cross points on LoC, he said it is aimed at facilitating the Kashmiri people and all the five points will be opened once in a week. He said Pakistan gives clearance to those Kashmiris intending to visit Azad Kashmir within 48 hours and the delay whichever is caused is by the Indian side.