50m Euro for projects in Quake-hit Azad Kashmir
Pakistan Times Kashmir Desk

MUZAFFARABAD (AJK): The European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) has been spending 50 million EURO on 41 projects of water supply & sanitation, construction of shelters, food items, health sector, and non food items on supporting the logistic sector and for disaster
preparedness Programme.

This was told by Ms Claire Barrault Media Advisor of ECHO for South Asia based in Brussels while talking to 'Pakistan Times' [Daily Web Newspaper] at Serli Sacha during a visit of ECHO review delegation on Saturday.

The Serli Sacha, a remote village located at the altitude of about 6000 ft in the base of snow bound (Ganja Dhaka) mountain in the Himalayan range some 47 km in the northeast of Muzaffarabad city.

The Serli Sacha village is the part of Machiyara National Park declared as protected area to protect the flora and Fauna, wildlife and forests.

The purpose of the visit was to review the on going projects of rehabilitation and recovery being funded by European Commission in the quake hit areas of AJK & NWFP and to look into the future needs also in this regard.

The ECHO review delegation which included Mr. Baurono ECHO representative based in Islamabad, Mr. Shahzad Badar, media advisor of the European Commission in Islamabad along with Mr. Kim country Director “MERLIN” a UK based NGO, Ms Alexandra Carrie, head of delegation of “Premier Urgence” (PU), a France based NGO engaged in providing medical assistance and shelter, non Food items, water and sanitation facilities in the quake ravaged areas respectively.

The national and international media representatives also accompanied the delegation during three-day long trip of the area from 6 to 8 June.

The MERLIN hospital at Serli Chacha is the highest point among five medical units established by the NGO in different parts of Muzaffarabad and Neelam Districts of AJK.

The members of the delegation and media persons had to walk three kilometers for one and half hours on hilly track from Copra Galli to Serli Sacha at the attitude of about 5000 to 6000 ft to reach the destination, as it took more than two hours by road from Chalyana village to Copra Galli at Jheeng village.

While describing the importance of the on going 41 projects in the quake hit areas Ms Claire said that these are the part of early Programme started on humanitarian basis to help assist the survivors for providing them prompt relief which, she added, would continue till April 2007.

Claire said the European Commission made a rapid and generous response to help the victims of this terrible disaster saying within hours of the earthquake, “The funding was made available and field teams were despatched which were at their places within few days to extend help the affectees.”

Responding to question she said that the European Union is the world’s largest providers of financing humanitarian aids operations.

Altogether Commission in Brussels and 25 member state governments pay for more than 50 % of the assistance that comes from official channels, with the commission itself responsible for managing almost half of this aid, she added.

About the humanitarian projects of the European Union (EU) she said that “we have projects of humanitarian aid in sixty countries” adding “in 2005, the commission provided 652 million Euro for the millions of victims of disasters out side European Union”.●