13TH ERRA COUNCIL MEETING OPENING REMARKS OF THE PRIME MINISTER (30th September, 2011)

 
 
Honorable Prime Minister AJ&K,
 
Chief Ministers of the provinces,
 
Chairman ERRA,
 
Deputy Chairman ERRA,
 
Distinguished members of ERRA Council,
Asalam -O- Alaikum!
 
Today’s distinguished gathering marks the 13th convention of the ERRA Council since 8th October 2005.
Today’s meeting is an event of historical significance, being the first Council Meeting after ERRA’s new found status as a permanent body with new council members.
 
Today’s meeting is unique in its composition; with representation from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan in addition to existing members from KPK and AJ&K.
 
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome new members of this august body. At this point in time, our nation is struggling to address complex socio-economic challenges including the devastation caused by recent floods and is actively engaged in war against terrorism. Despite these challenges, our commitment to the reconstruction of the earthquake affected areas remains unwavering. It is a matter of satisfaction that many development works have been completed in the earthquake affected areas.
 
This demonstrates the commitment of the government not to rest till the complete rehabilitation of the earthquake victims. My government stands committed to reconstruction of the affected areas and would provide all kinds of requisite resources despite financial constraints.
 

Since the earthquake of 8th October 2005, ERRA and its partners have made quantum leaps in raising state-of-the-art facilities to bring life back to normalcy in earthquake affected areas. ERRA and its development partners have come a long way in reconstructing the affected areas in an attempt to rehabilitate the people of AJ&K and KPK.
It is encouraging to know that 55 % of the total portfolio has been accomplished and 29 % projects are at various stages of construction.
 
I am also pleased that over 1600 projects have been added since last council meeting and out of that, about 900 are educational structures.
Though projects and programmes worth Rupees 365 billion have been completed, concerted efforts are required to complete the remaining projects worth Rupees 100 billion, most of which are educational facilities. Despite achieving this much, it is my belief that a lot still needs to be done.
 
On this occasion, I would like to commend the efforts of our people, global partners and the world community at large who rose to occasion. Without their timely assistance, the mission of ‘Building Back Better” would not have been possible.
 
I am delighted to know the improvements in the ERRA’s performance which have been acknowledged both by the United Kingdom Accreditation Services through ISO 9001 certification and conferment of prestigious United Nations Sasakawa Award 2011. Certainly, these are hallmarks of rare distinction and honour for a governmental institution.
 
There is a need to build upon this success through concerted efforts and unified approach.           
 
I once again welcome you all.