Compensation and the role of LMKR Relief
In Muldara and Rairbun the villagers are requesting help, rather than the outright provision of free homes and most are offering to invest the compensation that they will receive towards the construction of a home that will meet their needs. Where this applies LMKR will award a 'grant' to cover the additional cost of construction over and above the amount that they are able to contribute. Essentially, survivors lack tools, materials and expertise to reconstruct. They do not even have the tools needed to clear the rubble of their destroyed homes and are struggling to clear ground for reconstruction with the most basic tools.
Reconstruction will commence in March 2006. LMKR will carry out the rebuilding process by setting up a base camp in Bagh for the storage of material and equipment. Moving ahead, a warehouse, a workshop, and living quarters for volunteers will be constructed in each of the two villages. A team of volunteers from Dubai with construction expertise and heavy duty equipment will join LMKR to participate in the rebuilding effort. Our target
will be to rebuild a single house within a three-day time period. At the same time, we aim to establish skill sets in the villages by teaching the owners of these houses how to build and maintain their properties. |
All earthquake affectees will receive compensation from the Pakistan government for reconstruction. However, research on the ground shows that the amounts to be paid do not cover the cost of the construction of even the most basic home to seismic standards, and the government's reconstruction endeavors will take time to reach most remote areas. NGOs therefore have a critical role to play in reconstruction. Without help, survivors will have no option but to construct homes that will be totally unsafe and largely inadequate for their needs.
Another factor to be considered is that compensation is paid on a 'per home' basis, but does not take into account the fact that some people have had to 'adopt' many members of their extended family and therefore need to construct larger homes. Those who had large homes will receive the same amount of compensation as those who had small houses.
It is important to recognise that these areas were self-sufficient communities that had basic, but effective, infrastructure. Families survived on a combination of subsistence farming, trading, and salaries from family members employed in Pakistani cities or in the Gulf. The people in these villages are struggling to become self-sufficient once again, and are asking for help to do so. They absolutely do not have a 'hand out' mentality, they are proud people who need assistance to reconstruct their lives rather than people looking to sit back while everything is done for them.
To meet these criteria two technologies have been identified: one that uses concrete and steel insulated paneling (for construction on low, more easily accessible sites) and another that uses framework made from a recycled product manufactured in Dubai, called Ecowood, and aluminum and steel insulated paneling and roofing that can be fabricated to look like stone (so that construction is in keeping with the environment). The latter option is being developed specifically by LMKR in conjunction with volunteer engineers and architects in the UAE to design properties for suitable for construction in the mountainous regions.
All designs are being submitted to ERRA for approval.
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Compensation and the role of LMKR Relief
Machinery and equipment needed
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