Residents of Balakot have demanded the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to conduct an inquiry into alleged corruption by the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) and the local political leadership which has delayed allotment of plots to earthquake-affected communities under New Balakot City project.
Speakers at a meeting of the Citizen Action Committee accused ERRA and the local political leaders of depriving residents of their lands and forcing them to live in shelters. They said that donors had disbursed billions of rupees for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of earthquake-affected communities but ERRA and the local leadership did not spend the money for its intended purpose.
They said that over 60 per cent of government buildings, including schools and hospitals, have not yet been completed in New Balakot City.
They announced to stage protest demonstrations against the inordinate delay from October 8.
Residents of two union councils of Balakot were to be relocated to Bakriyal after the area was declared “hazardous for permanent residence” by an international team of geologists following the 2005 earthquake. A total of 11,430 kanals were allocated to relocate the affected communities; the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa earmarked Rs12 billion for the project and handed over the project to ERRA.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2012.
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