Mingora: Terming the terrorist attacks in Paris extremely tragic, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said Pakistan stands with France in this hour of grief and would continue to play its role to fight the menace of terrorism.
He was addressing a ceremony where compensation cheques were distributed among the earthquake-stricken people in the Shamozai area in Barikot tehsil in Swat district.
The prime minister said that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were very dear to him and his government would mitigate the suffering of the quake affected people. He said the houses destroyed in the October 26 earthquake would be repaired before the onset of extreme winter cold.
Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid, Adviser to PM Amir Muqam, KP Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, District Nazim Swat Muhammad Ali Shah, District Nazim Shangla Niaz Ahmad Khan and local political and social figures were also present on the occasion.
Nawaz Sharif said the first phase of the distribution of compensation cheques among those injured in the earthquake and the heirs of the dead had been completed. He promised to build the road from Chakdarra to Kalam to facilitate the people travelling between these two places.
The premier said he would also visit the rest of the quake-hit areas in KP soon, adding that he had already visited Chitral, Kohistan, Shangla and Lower Dir districts.
The prime minister vowed that the energy crisis in the country would be overcome by the year 2018. “No effort would be spared to put the country on the path of progress and development,” he declared.
Earlier, the prime minister visited the quake-hit areas where Deputy Commissioner Swat Mehmood Aslam Wazir briefed him about relief activities and damage caused by the earthquake.
Muhammad Saleh Zaafir adds from Islamabad: The prime minister said the federal government in consultation with the KP government firmed up the compensation package for the victims soon after the calamity.
Nawaz lauded the national and the provincial disaster management authorities for the timely initiation of the relief operation. He said that the district of Swat was also badly hit by terrorism but it was cleansed of terrorists through a successful operation. Announcing different development projects for the area, he directed to make the recently completed Nawaz Sharif kidney hospital fully functional.
The prime minister appreciated the efforts of all stakeholders including federal, provincial, district and local administration and the armed forces for carrying out rescue and relief operations in areas which were badly affected in the natural disaster that jolted various parts of the country including Malakand division.
“We should thank Almighty Allah for saving the country from large-scale destruction because the tremors were massive,” he said.
Nawaz said that he immediately met the KP chief minister, governor and adviser Amir Muqam in the aftermath of the calamity and called for prompt compensation for the affected populace of various areas in the province.
It was decided in the meeting that a compensation amount of Rs0.2 million will be given to people whose homes were destroyed in the calamity, while Rs0.1 million will be disbursed among people whose homes were damaged due to the earthquake. The prime minister said it was agreed that the amount would be distributed swiftly so that the sufferings of the affected people could be mitigated.
“The KP government provided support while we also supplemented them with financial aid. Teams from civilian administration and the Army reached there and evaluated the losses so that the situation could be tackled in a better way,” he added.
Nawaz said the ongoing operation against terrorism is proving successful and yielding the desired outcome. The prime minister said the people would no longer feel the gas and power shortage.
Read : Video of Paris terror attack
