IRIN
PAKISTAN: Bid to restore quake-hit regional government under way
22 December 2006


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

ABBOTTABAD, 22 December (IRIN) - The massive challenge of restoring 
local government capacity across the quake zone of northern Pakistan is 
gathering momentum - thanks to a multi-million-dollar international 
initiative.

Hundreds of government buildings were severely damaged or destroyed when 
last year's disaster tore through the country's North West Frontier 
Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir crippling 
administration infrastructure in an area already poorly resourced.

The 18-month project - jointly funded by the United Nations Development 
Programme (UNDP) and the European Commission (EC) - seeks to restore 
capacity by providing new offices, equipment and staff training in a US 
$5.4 million support package.

The first of 155 prefabricated office units for NWFP, manufactured in 
Italy, were delivered and installed mid-October in local government 
centres in quake-affected Mansehra, Battagram and Balakot districts of 
NWFP.

The units, typically measuring 3.6 by 6 metres, come complete with 
office furniture for four staff, a PC and seating for eight visitors. 
Some offices are fitted with washrooms and air-conditioning.

Installation in the worst-hit quake areas in NWFP of Mansehra and 
Battagram districts is ongoing, with all office units set to be 
delivered and operational by mid-January, weather permitting, United 
Nations Area Coordinator for the province, Anwar Ul Haq, told IRIN.

The programme would focus on rebuilding capacity at the local level, 
providing a level of structure, equipment and training that would allow 
a higher degree of efficiency than before the earthquake struck, he 
said.

The initiative is being simultaneously mirrored across 
Pakistani-administered Kashmir, also devastated by the last year's 
disaster.

Ul Haq said: "Some local government officials have still been sitting in 
tents. But this project is not just about restoring government 
infrastructure and improving working conditions after the emergency, it 
is also designed to promote a change in culture and greater efficiency".

Some local government offices had not been equipped with computers 
before the earthquake, he noted.

Meanwhile, training was also being conducted for key representatives and 
elected members of regional government and national non-government 
organisations (NGOs), in a further effort to bring best practice to the 
grass-roots level.

An additional part of the project will focus on restoring the lost 
records of up to 1.5 million people across the quake zone.A Pakistani 
academic with government experience, Musharaf Cyan, is set to arrive 
from New York at the end of this week to begin data and record 
assessments across NWFP.

Ul Haq told IRIN there was much work still to be done in the new year 
ahead, but he was pleased with progress.

Earlier this month the British government's Department for International 
Development (DFID) also expressed a "willingness to fund" an extension 
of the programme across Abbottabad, Kohistan and Shangla districts in 
NWFP, which were also hit by the earthquake.


IRIN-Asia
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Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org


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