‘Reconstruction to begin in quake-hit Kashmir next week’
PakistanTimes.net Staff Report

MUZAFFARABAD (AJK): Reconstruction work will begin in Pakistan’s part of Kashmir next week, the top elected official in the area announced on Monday, just days after donors pledged US$5.8 billion to rebuild the quake-shattered region.

"New villages, towns and cities will emerge from the rubble, and you will see it soon," said Sardar Sikandar Hayat, the Prime Minister in Azad Kashmir. "We will start reconstruction work next week."

Hayat said he has already asked officials to submit reconstruction plans and that he hopes to have them in hand soon.

Demands right to Self-rule

Sardar Sikandar Hayat demanded demilitarization of Kashmir and allowing the people of the territory the right to self-rule.

Hayat also demanded elections for vacant seats in Jammu Kashmir Council and the legislative assembly of the region and immediate announcement of the election schedule.

A 5.5-magnitude aftershock jolted the quake zone on Monday, the 1,340th tremor to hit Pakistan since the big quake. Nearly 60 of those tremors have registered a magnitude above 5.

There were no reports of damage or injury. The tremor was centered about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province.

Pakistan has received US$210 million in cash, including US$10 million from bilateral creditors and US$200 million from the World Bank as an emergency loan since the earthquake hit Kashmir and northwestern Pakistan, killing 87,000 people and making millions homeless.

It’s estimated that half of those who died in quake were children.

The government remains optimistic that international aid will eventually exceed US$6 billion, Salman Shah, financial adviser to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, was qouted as saying on Monday.●