Press Releases 2007
USAID-Supported Makri Park Built On Earthquake Rubble Inaugurated
11/28/2007
Muzaffarabad - The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Mission Director for Pakistan, Anne Aarnes, paid rich tributes to the “irrepressible spirit and continued support of the local community” while inaugurating here today the Makri Park, built on top of rubble from the October 8 earthquake. The deputy chief of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (ERRA) Lt. General Nadeem Ahmed was also present on the occasion.
“USAID and its partners worked to design and implement an exciting vision to convert this landfill into an environment-friendly park that beautifies the area,” said USAID’s Aarnes. “What you see today is the result of a year’s efforts to realize that vision.”
In April 2006, USAID funded a $1.7 million Rubble Removal project to remove debris from the city of Muzaffarabad. Implemented by International Organization for Migration (IOM), the project cleared 8.5 million cubic feet of rubble from the town center and deposited it at the government-designated landfill of Makri, a ravine on the bank of River Neelum.
“Under the guidance and leadership of ERRA, the USAID and its partners took up the challenge of helping the city to regain its former glory and to build back better,” the American diplomat said.
Consistent with an environmental plan, Makri Park is now a new city landmark covering 40,000 square feet of extensively landscaped land that offers scenic picnic spots overlooking the river and city.
Support for Makri Park is part of USAID’s four-year $200 million Earthquake Reconstruction Program that is building hundreds of schools and health facilities, supporting better quality health and education services, and improving economic activities in the quake-affected areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the North-West Frontier Province.