ISLAMABAD: The last of 37 new schools and 49 new steel bridges funded by the United Kingdom have been rebuilt and are serving thousands in the areas devastated by the 2005 earthquake.
The projects have been completed under a partnership between the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) and the Government of Pakistan.
The schools and bridges replaced those destroyed by the earthquake, which marks its seven year anniversary next month. The total funding for people affected by the 2005 Earthquake from the UK comes to some 139 million (approx. 20 billion rupees).
Over 73,000 people were killed, including 850 teachers and 18,000 students. Another 128,000 people were injured and 3.5 million left homeless.
The Head of DFID in Pakistan George Turkington inaugurated Ali Akbar Awan boys high school in Muzaffarabad, which houses 1650 students and has been completed in time for the new school year.
Turkington also inaugurated Majohi Steel Bridge and met with students from the Government Girls High School Madina Market, both built with funding from the UK Government.
All the new schools are designed to withstand future earthquakes up to 8 on the Richter scale.
Speaking at Muzaffarabad, Turkington said "with up to two- thirds of infrastructure destroyed, the damage and disruption caused by the 2005 earthquake was immense."
He said the UK worked closely in partnership with the government of Pakistan initially to provide vital lifesaving aid and then to rebuild schools and bridges, to help bring back stability and normalcy to the region.
"Our long term support over the last seven years has helped people who survived the disaster to build a better future for themselves and their families," he said.
He termed the partnership a testament to the deep and long ties between the two countries, bound together through family, history, and business.
The UK Government also contributed to a larger fund, to help rebuild more than 750 schools, nearly half-a-million family houses, and 850 government offices across areas affected by the earthquake.
The United Kingdom was the first to scramble an emergency search and rescue team, to the worst hit areas after the devastating earthquake shook northern Pakistan, seven years back.
Sardar Muhammad Ishaque Khan, Deputy Director General SERRA, described UK's support immediately after the earthquake and in the seven years since has been exceptional.
He said the UK has played a major role working side-by-side to help rebuild this vital infrastructure.
"The Government and the people of AJ&K will remember the sizable support and fraternity shown by the Govt. and people of the United Kingdom in the post-earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Program in AJ&K," he said.
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