Rebuilding process as transparent as possible: Erra chief

ISLAMABAD—A host of allegations has marred the relief operation being supervised by the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra).
Non-governmental organisations and independent watchdogs have expressed concern over bureaucratic delays that have hampered the rehabilitation process in the earthquake-devastated areas. But Erra Chairman Altaf Mohammad Saleem insists that, by and large, the relief effort has been smooth, methodically conducted and, above all, transparent. Following are excerpts from Mr Saleem’s exclusive interview with Dawn:
On the timeline of Erra targets: Let me start by saying that before October 8, 2005, the country had never experienced a natural calamity of this magnitude. And I feel that the government rose to the challenge in an organised way. Our strategy is methodically divided into three phases. The first phase, which we describe as the relief phase, started immediately after the earthquake and lasted four to five months. We focused on making food, medicines and shelter available to the victims — from the snow-capped mountains of Kashmir to the hilly areas of the NWFP. The idea was to help the survivors get through what was expected to be a harsh winter.
The second phase, which we describe as the transition phase, started in March-April and still continues. It will be completed within two to three years. Our target is to ensure that all social facilities, such as schools and hospitals in prefabricated buildings, are up and running in this phase.
The third phase, which we describe as the rebuilding phase, will be completed within five years. It will see us rebuild 600,000 houses and damaged schools and hospitals. We plan to rebuild over 1,500 educational institutions by 2007.
On ADB claims that rebuilding will take eight years: Look, we are more aware of local conditions than any foreign funding agency. And we are confident that our rebuilding target can be achieved in five years. We plan to finish 80 per cent of the reconstruction work within the first three years of the rebuilding process. At least 27 per cent of the damaged houses will have been reconstructed before the winter of 2007 sets in. At present, only five per cent of the victims are living in tents. I know for a fact that an advanced country like Japan took nine years to rebuild the areas devastated by the Kobe earthquake.
On housing subsidy: Let me make it absolutely clear that the government is not offering compensation to the victims whose houses were destroyed in the earthquake. What we are offering is a housing subsidy to help them in their rebuilding efforts. We calculated that Rs200,000-plus would be enough to help a person rebuild a single housing unit on the site of his/her demolished house. We also calculated that debris from the demolished housing units, like bricks, windows and doors, could be reused in the rebuilding process. We distributed Rs25,000 housing-subsidy cheques among the affected people immediately after the earthquake.
Some delay in the disbursement process occurred because of people’s needless opposition to a damage survey. What they perhaps did not realise was that the survey was in their interest and allowed the government to, at once, update its record and obtain international assistance. Before the survey, our estimate of demolished houses was 450,000. But the survey showed that the number of demolished houses is 600,000. Now, tell me who has benefited from the survey?
Some isolated complaints of nepotism and lack of transparency during the survey were brought to my notice, but we did our utmost to make the process as transparent as possible.
On complaints about Erra building codes: I don’t know why people are complaining about the building codes. It is in their interest to reconstruct their houses in accordance with Erra building codes. Look, we cannot afford to allow another devastating earthquake — not an entire impossibility – to again raze hundreds of thousands of houses to the ground.
Besides, the building codes were necessary for making financial institutions and donors release money for the government’s housing subsidy. However, in view of growing public demand, we came up with wooden building designs for high-altitude areas where it was extremely difficult to transport construction material. These designs have been approved by the donor agencies.—Agencies