PESHAWAR, Feb 22: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will conduct survey of schools destroyed by militants in different districts of the province, a senior official said.
Provincial secretary rehabilitation and settlement Rashid Khan said at a press briefing on Friday that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) would provide $25 million for the reconstruction of government schools in militancy-affected districts except those of Malakand division.
He said that the survey of damaged schools would be launched in 18 districts of the province, including Peshawar, Kohat, Hangu and Bannu. He said that Provincial Disaster Management Authority in collaboration with the relevant departments would conduct the survey.
Mr Khan said that 180 schools were extensively damaged in seven districts of Malakand division and foreign donors had provided financial assistance for reconstruction of these schools. Approximately, 800 schools had been damaged completely or partially across the province in terrorist activities. He said that Malakand Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Programme had been renamed as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Reconstruction Programme and its total cost was $85 million being financed by the USAID.
The briefing was arranged to highlight performance of the outgoing provincial government during its five-year stint.
Main components of the programme are reconstruction of 122 schools and 18 health facilities, improvement of health services delivery, distribution of medical equipment and provision of furniture to 47 health facilities. He said that Khwazakhela Bridge damaged in 2010 floods would be reconstructed at a cost of $4.98 million.
Reconstruction and rehabilitation activities had been started in militancy and flood-affected areas of Malakand under United Arab Emirates Assistance Programme. Cost of the UPAP was $60 million and the army was utilising funds on schemes in the area. He said that Rs2 billion was spent on various schemes in Malakand under the Chief Minister’s Package for Malakand.
Secretary Rashid Khan said that the PDMA had established its credibility and as a result foreign donors had started giving funds for reconstruction activities in the province.
He said that the aims of the authority were to effectively respond to population affected by natural or man-made disasters and make coordination among the donors and relevant departments to cope with the situation. He said that disaster management officer posts were created in all districts.
He said that the districts declared prone to floods included Shangla, Swat, Kohistan, Charsadda, Nowshera, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Upper and Lower Dir.
Answering a question, Mr Khan said that federal government had yet to provide cash assistance for radar system to be installed in Cherat for weather forecast. He said that the commitment in this regard was made when flash floods hit the province in July 2010.
He informed that Rs 10.3 billion had been disbursed to 392,724 families displaced from Malakand as a result of militancy and subsequent military operation against militants in 2009.
Apart from this the authority also managed flood crisis effectively and Rs16.6 billion was spent on the rehabilitation of affected families.
