Compensation & rebuilding plans

As the government is gearing up to start the important phase of reconstruction and rebuilding in the earthquake stricken areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz much awaited announcement on the compensation for the deceased persons by November 30 is a positive development.
Giving details of the compensation plan the Prime Minister said, “Compensation for the deceased persons would be paid by November 30 and the registration process for them will be completed by the end of the month. The claims have been sought from the affected persons about their properties and the procedure for this purpose has been announced…In the first round of payments, at least one heir of the deceased person would be given cash compensation so that every family could get something. In the next round all families would get compensation for their relatives who lost their lives in the earthquake.”
Though payment of money is no substitute for the loss of human life, it would somewhat help mitigate the sufferings of those affected families who have lost a breed winner in the deadly October 8 earthquake leaving them high and dry. The Prime Minister announced that “substantive part of the families that had lost their members would get compensation of Rs1 lakh by 30th of this month while payment would be completed by the year-end. Similarly, payment of Rs25, 000 for rebuilding houses would be completed by the end of the month.”
However, every effort should be made to ensure that the procedure for payment is not cumbersome. It is important that the disbursement be speedy, free from bureaucratic delays. It needs to be emphasized that verification and authentication procedure should be made as simple as possible so that payments to legal heirs of the deceased could be made faster
The other related matter that needs priority consideration is the availability of claim forms. The government must ensure that they are readily available and the claimants do not face unnecessary problems in obtaining them. In this regard the government has already announced that the “claim forms for compensation would be made available with tehsil municipal officers in the NWFP and offices of the assistant commissioners in Azad Kashmir by Friday… the victims can file their claims at these sites.
As to the rehabilitation of the disabled, the government needs to chalk out a comprehensive strategy. In this context the government has reportedly approved the establishment of three artificial limbs centers, one each in Islamabad, Muzaffarabad and Mansehra, with the funding of the international committee of the Red Cross which is a step in the right direction
Though reconstruction and rehabilitation is going to be a long drawn out process, the government seems to be keen on accomplishing the major part of the operation in three years. It is working in close cooperation with the World Bank, WHO and other international aid agencies on a final damage assessment report, which would be made public by Friday. In order to facilitate the massive reconstruction and rehabilitation work, an international donors’ moot in Islamabad is also being organized. .President Musharraf will inaugurate the conference on November1 9. It is to be noted that the final assessment report would be provided to all participants of international donors’ conference.
According to a news report “President General Pervez Musharraf will announce a “sponsorship scheme” on November 19 in his address to international donors’ conference. A comprehensive strategy would be adopted to provide chance to individuals, local and international firms, organizations and countries to sponsor a family, house, school, college or hospital in the affected areas.”
It may be pointed out that the recently constituted ‘Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority’ has an important role to play in this regard. They should be able to effectively handle the job in collaboration with other private, public and international institutions and formulate a well thought out plan of action to speed up the reconstruction and rehabilitation work particularly in the worst hit areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP
It is also encouraging that the government has decided to take the Parliamentarians on board for overseeing the ongoing relief, rebuilding and reconstruction activities. Reportedly, “the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is convening a meeting of the parliamentary leaders of all political parties next week to share earthquake data and discuss plans for rehabilitation and reconstruction.”
Explaining the government decision in this regard Shaukat Aziz said,”The government would like to bring parliament in the loop for relief, rebuilding and rehabilitation activities. He expressed the hope that “all leaders would attend the briefing in the interest of the people.”
That way their concerns and reservations regarding government’s relief and rehabilitation efforts could be better addressed. What is more, all important decisions with regard to the crucial reconstruction and rebuilding phase could be made with consensus, which is need of the hour.
Further, the engagement of an international private audit company “Ford Rhodes” is another important step that would ensure transparency in the disbursement of funds. The company will ‘audit payments for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the quake hit areas in addition to the government which would also continue auditing of funds through Auditor General of Pakistan.”
To sum up, it could be safely asserted that the steps taken by the government are going to be helpful in implementing its plans for rehabilitation and reconstruction. Also, this would go a long way in ensuring that the relief funds are used in the most judicious, transparent and fair manner, minimizing the chances of finger pointing at the government especially on that account.

Mohammad A. Suhail (INP)