Govt-Opp panel formed to oversee quake rebuilding
By Zulfiqar Ahmad

ISLAMABAD—Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has constituted a committee of parliamentarians for earthquake relief and rehabilitation with the responsibility to review the relief and rehabilitation work.
The committee will consist of Opposition as well government members. Those who were included from the opposition ranks include leader of the opposition in the National assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chairman ARD Makhdoom Amin Fahim, MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, TI chairman Imran Khan, PKMAP chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, BNP leader Abdul Raof Mengal, leader of the opposition in the senate Mian Raza Rabbani and ANP president Asfand Yar Wali Khan.
The government members in the committed including PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, PPP(P) Rao Sikandar Iqbal, MQM parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar, PML-F leader Justice (Retd) Abdul Razaque Thahim MNA FATA Munir Akram Orakzai, PML leader Hamid Nasir Chatta, leader of the senate Wasim Sajjad and PML leader Muhammad Naseer Mengal.
Invitations to the committee members are being issued to participate in the first meeting of the committee scheduled to be held on November 23 in Islamabad.
Ruling PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has assured the parliamentarians that parliament will be taken into confidence on utilization of relief funds in transparent manner.
“The entire work of reconstruction and rehabilitation will be completed under the principle of transparency. Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority and Federal Relief Commissioner are answerable and subordinate to the parliament and the Prime Minister. All the aid flowing in, will be used adhering to norm of transparency”, he was responding to the reservations voiced by the opposition parliamentarians in the joint session of standing committees of national assembly and senate on defence held here Monday in parliament house.
The session was presided over by Chairman Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Nisar Memon. Besides treasury members, members of all opposition parties also attended the meeting.
The opposition members expressed their reservations on the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities and underscored the need for doing the entire job in transparent manner.
Parliament should be taken into confidence about all the aid coming to the country, opposition demanded. It should be informed where it would be used.
The civil administration should do reconstruction work and the military institutions should do this job under the supervision of the Prime Minister so that if some wrong thing is done, its responsibility would rest with civil government, opposition pleaded. Otherwise the whole army will be implicated into such allegations which is not a correct thing, opposition observed.
Chairman Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority, Lt Gen Zubair and Federal Relief Commissioner, Maj Gen Farooq Ahmad Khan gave detailed briefing in the session with reference to ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction work.
Maj Gen Farooq Ahmad told “we have so far provided 5,31,334 tents and 37 Lakh blankets to the affectees. Focus has been placed on restoration of telephone, gas and communication system. 75791 casualties have been confirmed up till now in the quake and the injured people are equal in number, he pointed out. 27282 major operations were conducted in hospitals. 720000 tons food has to be sent to the quake affected areas so that people don’t starve to death there. Chairman Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority, Lt Gen Zubair told “ we are carrying out each and every work under a strategy and planning. An action plan has been evolved for rehabilitation of affected people. 2618 tent villages have been set up so far. Over 40 NGOs are working in affected areas. Earlier, we had planned to provide one constructed room in place of destroyed house and now we will give two rooms. Rs 2 Lakh will be disbursed for this purpose. There will be no restriction if some NGO or other organisation wants to build one two or three houses, he hinted. He underscored that rehabilitation of orphan children and widows was a big challenge. However ministry for woman development and social welfare is looking into the matter. Over 4 Lakh homes were destroyed and 18984 teachers and students lost their lives in the killer quake. 7669 school and college buildings were razed to the ground. 782 health care centers were demolished. About 52 to 70 percent work of restoration of communication and IT system has been completed.