Reconstruction of North Waziristan will take two years: NDMA

Maj-Gen Aleem says rehabilitation of IDPs and reconstruction will be done in two phases

National Disaster Management Authority chief Major General Muhammad Saeed Aleem on Thursday claimed that reconstruction and rehabilitation of North Waziristan after Operation Zarb-e-Azb would costs Rs75 billion and extend over a period of two years.

The NDMA chief in an interview to BBC Urdu was addressing the topic of reconstruction and rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) after the military launched a full-scale offensive against militants in North Waziristan on June 15.

“The rehabilitation of IDPs and reconstruction will be done in two phases,” Maj-Gen Aleem said, explaining, “In the first phase – shops, houses, roads, hospitals and schools will be built.”

Elaborating that the first phase could take up to three to six months, Maj-Gen Aleem briefed that the second phase requires large-scale reconstruction of the region.”

“The second phase can take up to two years,” he added.

Referring to the second donors’ meeting held in Islamabad on November 11 for the rehabilitation of hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the recent monsoon-induced floods and Operation Zarb-e-Azb, Maj-Gen Aleem said infrastructure system and businesses of people in the tribal area had been disrupted on a wide-scale.

“First, militants attacked and destroyed schools and hospitals and when army conducted the operation they caused further damage to the infrastructure,” he said.

Responding to a question regarding an estimate of losses caused in the agency, the NDMA chief said that Ministry of States and Frontier Regions and the Finance Ministry had collaborated  with Fata Secretariat in Peshawar to estimate the losses borne.

“But because of the specific security procedures the estimates of losses can only be conducted through reports of officals present there,” Maj-Gen Aleem continued.

Further, he said that government agencies and the army will work together in reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.

“This work cannot be done by one agency or the army alone. Various institutions will have to work together to complete it.”

“As soon as the areas are cleared of militants, reconstruction will begin and the IDPs will be brought back step wise.”

The operation which began on June 17 after government’s talks with the Taliban insurgency ultimately proved fruitless. No time-frame regarding the operation has been given as it continues successfully and the Inter Services Public Relations claims to have killed more than 1,100 militants in the operation till now.