Slow, limited provision of funds hampers development projects: ERRA

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (APP):Deputy Chairman Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), Brig Muhammad Latif said the government provides Rs 3 billion for executing its projects and administrative affairs while it only requires Rs55-60 billion for the completion of the left over projects. He said that slow and limited provision of funds was hampering the swift completion of funds.
Talking to APP here Thursday, he said the Authority has effectively accomplished 72 percent of the total projects whereas the remaining 28 percent only left due to scarcity of funds. “If the availability of funds persists at the same pace then it will take another 20 years to complete the 28 percent remaining projects,” he added.
He said that ERRA’s commitment towards the reconstruction and rehabilitation of disaster-ridden areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) is evident from the quality of development work done. “The completion of development projects made people’s accessibility to far-off tourist sites in the areas of AJK and KPK,” he added.
According to details, the overall projects in AJK were 7,742 out of which 5,459 (70.5 percent) were completed, 1,380 under construction and 903 to be kicked off including education projects 2,798 total and 1469 completed whereas 656 under construction and 673 in the offing.
The situation in KPK was different where 74.78 percent of the total projects 5,206 out of 6,962 were completed. Successfully ERRA completed the set four medical rehabilitation projects in KPK whereas 99.43 percent of Water and Sanitation (WatSan) projects namely 1,931 out of 1,942 total projects were completed and 10 projects under construction and one project was yet to be initiated.
The deputy chairman said that the newly constructed infrastructure in the AJK and KPK areas was considered to be better than the federal capital.
He suggested that the government should give the remaining projects to the respective provincial and state governments of KPK and AJK. The respective governments should be provided the funds required for executing the projects themselves which will give them an opportunity to own the reconstruction process.