A month and 86,000 lives later, agencies squabble over Pak aid

The death toll in last month’s devastating quake has crossed 86,000 in Pakistan with over 100,000 injured and 350,000 people displaced,...

The death toll in last month’s devastating quake has crossed 86,000 in Pakistan with over 100,000 injured and 350,000 people displaced, even as the government and international agencies differed over costs of reconstruction.

Ahead of the ministerial donors conference to meet here on November 19, a draft report on damage assessment jointly prepared by international donor agencies and the government said the toll has crossed 86,000.

However, a meeting between Pakistan officials and representatives of donor agencies could not finalise estimates of reconstruction costs owing to a wide difference in figures provided by them, local daily Dawn reported today.

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While Pakistan estimated total reconstruction costs at around $12 billion, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank said it could range between $ 3 to 4 billion, the daily said. On the differences between the two estimates, the newspaper quoted an official as saying the two sides differed on whether to build houses or shanties.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is struggling to raise $550 million for a medium-term programme to help survivors. The response so far to the UN appeal has only been $132.4 million despite a chorus of warnings of a second disaster unless there is a faster flow of shelter supplies and aid.