Providing Temporary Shelters to the Most Needy- Arrangement for 100 shelters I: Nov.29, 2005

by A.H Nayyar
Visiting Research Fellow at SDPI
nayyar@sdpi.org

The project of providing simple shelters for quake victims is progressing well. The project started with Rs.500,000 from Eqbal Ahmad Foundation. Then SDPI chipped in with 1 million from its received donations.

The total money received was 1.5 million rupees. At Rs. 13,199 per shelter (24 corrugated galvanized iron sheets, nails, etc), we are providing shelters to 114 needy people; the criteria being: those who had only a thatched roof hut, and are located in an area that is going to receive snow.

We have purchased material for 114 shelters. Material for 15 shelters each reached Rawlakot and 15 Chikar on Nov. 25, 2005. People have started making shelters. Some have already completed construction.

The next consignment is to leave Monday morning in four trucks. One will carry sheets for 15 shelters for Rawlakot, another two for 35 shelters in Bagh, and the fourth one for 25 shelters in Chikar. The last truck will take material for 14 shelters to Chikar on the 2nd of December. This will make a total of 114 shelters: 30 in Rawlakot (some 10 going to Datot), 49 in Chikar and 35 in Bagh. In addition, one of our partners (Mr. Nasim Mahmood) has already provided 11 similar shelters in Chikar and another one (Mr.
Arif Shahid of J&KNLF) has provided 9 in Rawlakot from money collect from elsewhere.

Four of us went to Chikar on the 27th, checked some shelters and took pictures. One shelter had put up boards for floor and had beddings on the boards. It looked quite cozy. Another was half complete. It was being made for a disabled person who can walk only on his fours. Some have opted to use the extra sheets we had given for a lavatory to extend the shelter size because, according to them, most such people are used to using open space for the purpose. Our friends in Rawlakot took special care to complete a shelter for the family of Master Rashid, a local school headmaster, who had died of his injuries in a Rawalpindi hospital and had no grown-up male members to look after his family.

Many other people of these areas whose fallen roofs had such sheets are getting the idea and have started to copy the pattern for themselves.

Those distributing the shelter material are taking care to keep a list of recipients with their addresses and ID card numbers and signature of receipt. Money has been paid to the supplier, and receipts taken. A total of Rs. 1,504,664 was to be paid, out of which the supplier was paid Rs. 1,452,000 and 52,664 was deducted at source as Withholding Tax @3.5% that will be deposited to the public exchequer on Monday. The transportation charges per trip were as follows: Rs. 5,000 to Rawlakot, 6,000 to Chikar and 5,750 to Bagh. With 2 trucks to Rawlakot, 3 to Chikar and 2 to Bagh, the total on transportation was (and will be) 34,500.

We will take another trip to the 3 locations after ten days or so and do a random check of the shelters, checking against the lists that will be completed by the end of this week, and bringing back photographs. Our lists of identified deserving persons are very long. More money will be welcome. For at least another 200 shelters.

The five of us working on the project are:

1. Sardar Mohammad Anwar, Advocate (formerly a QAU student), Kotli
2. Professor MARK Khaleeque (President AJK Awami National Party), Noor Gala, Bagh
3. Mr. Arif Shahid, President J&K National Liberation Front, Rawlakot
4. Mr. Nasim Mahmood, a horticulturist from Chikar
5. A.H. Nayyar, SDPI, Islamabad.