Departments urged to meet deadlines in Azad Kashmir

British Department for International Development urges officials of the AJK’s earthquake Rehabilitation.

MUZAFFARABAD: The British Department for International Development (DFID) has urged officials of the AJK’s earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Departments to meet the deadline set for the completion of rebuilding projects in earthquake-affected areas.

A review meeting on the DFID funded projects was held on Saturday in which Choudhary Liaquat Hussain, Director General State Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction agency (SERRA), briefed a five-member visiting delegation on the progress of DFID-sponsored projects.

Liaquat told the delegation that 37 out of 41 steel bridges provided by DFID for the earthquake-devastated areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) have been installed in various places, while the installation of the remaining four will be completed by March next year.

He added that the construction of 26 schools had been completed through DFID funding in Muzaffarabad. However, they could not be made functional as they have not been provided furniture due to financial constraints.

He hoped that DFID would assist them in overcoming these hardships so that newly-built state-of-the-art educational facilities can be made functional.

DFID’s advisor, Ms Rodney Dyre, who was heading the delegation, hoped that the departments working for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of quake-stricken areas would complete the DFID funded bridge projects by March 2011.

Besides, completing projects in AJK, the UK Government has committed £134 million (nearly Rs18 billion) to help people affected by the floods in Pakistan. In addition, a £10 million project to build bridges and schools destroyed by the floods has also been sanctioned.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2010.