PAKISTAN: Quake reconstruction delayed by land problems -
experts
Source: IRIN
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
ISLAMABAD, 9 November (IRIN) - The reconstruction of health and educational infrastructure in Pakistan's northern
earthquake-affected zone is being delayed partly due to problems in allocating land to build new facilities, an international aid agency has said. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
had been scheduled to start the construction of some 100 primary schools and 13 Basic Health Units (BHUs) in the Battagram district of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in October. "Due
to delays in allocating land to construct these structures, we have not been able to start rebuilding so far, hence slowing down the pace of reconstruction and increasing the timeline for completion
of the projects," Yasuyuki Uehara, a JICA project adviser told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Thursday. Immediately after a devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck northern
Pakistan in October last year, Japan provided some US $85 million towards emergency relief programmes. The disaster killed more than 75,000 people and about 3.5 million were rendered homeless.The
earthquake inflicted extensive damage on public and private infrastructure across an area of 30,000 sq km. A total of over 7,600 educational institutions and more than 570 health facilities were
destroyed or damaged beyond use. Japan has been helping Pakistan in rebuilding the damaged public infrastructure in quake-affected areas through providing technical assistance in raising
quake-resistant infrastructure. Besides land problems, a combination of poor road conditions, difficult mountainous terrain, problems in moving heavy machinery and a shortage of appropriate
transport have been slowing the post-quake reconstruction process, the JICA expert explained. However, officials at Pakistan's Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA)
denied any undue delay in reconstruction. "JICA has already started the reconstruction of six schools in Battagram district," an official working with ERRA's educational programmes said. He added
that the other projects were in an advanced stage of planning and on schedule. United Nations agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO) say reconstruction of permanent health facilities in
the quake zone still faces many challenges. "The reconstruction of transitional facilities has been more or less as per schedule, but for the permanent structure there have been a combination of
factors slowing down the process ranging from assistance pledges to resolving the land problems. One cannot generalise as to what is causing delays," said Dr Rayana Bouhaka, head of the WHO's
earthquake emergency health programme.According to the WHO, a total of 82 prefabricated transitional health units have so far been built under the early recovery plan. JICA has recently completed
a transitional hospital in Battagram. While "the construction of the permanent structure has also been started, which will be completed in three years," Uehara said. Tokyo is assisting in other
projects in the earthquake zone. Japanese engineering experts are assisting Pakistan's National Highway Authority (NHA) in reconstructing four damaged bridges and a culvert on the Jhelum Valley road
in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. tt/sc/jl
