Japan extends $35 million for quake reconstruction

The Japanese government has pledged an additional grant of US $35 million for rehabilitation work in quake-ravaged areas of northern Pakistan. Commenting on the grant, a spokesman at the Japanese Embassy in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, told IRIN on Wednesday the amount was to be used mainly to reconstruct destroyed schools and hospitals. He also stated Japan was fully committed to extending maximum help to assist in ongoing quake recovery efforts. The $35 million had been extended under Japan's Non-Project Grant Assistance (NPGA) programme. At least 20 hospitals and clinics, and 17 schools are to be rebuilt with the money in Battagram district, one of the areas worst hit by the quake. Japan had pledged emergency grant assistance of $20 million immediately after the 8 October earthquake that killed at least 75,000 people. Of this amount, $12 million is being disbursed as bilateral aid while $8 million has been allocated to the United Nations in response to its appeal in 2005 for urgent financial support following the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake. Over $6 billion in soft loans and grants had been pledged for reconstruction in quake-hit areas at an international donor's conference held in November 2005 in Islamabad. However, recently, there has been concern over shortfalls in funding and the possibility that this could hamper rehabilitation efforts. Late in June, Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed two grant assistance agreements worth $7 million. An additional $5 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), financed by the government of Japan, is aimed at helping quake-affected households rebuild their livelihoods. The project is designed to deliver urgent agricultural and livestock supplies to quake-hit people, to enable them to participate in income generation activities and reduce the dependence on aid that has been evident in parts of the quake zone over the past eight months.