Reconstruction work to begin in quake-hit Kashmir

21/11/2005 - 10:12:56

Reconstruction work will begin in Pakistan’s part of Kashmir next week, the top elected official in the region announced today, two days after donors pledged $5.8bn (€4.9bn) to rebuild the 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 Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

“We will start reconstruction work next week.”

About three million people, mostly in Pakistan’s part of Kashmir, lost their homes in the October 8 quake, leaving hundreds of thousands living in flimsy tents and an unknown number with no shelter at all.

Schools, hospitals and government buildings collapsed in their thousands.


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