Saudi Public Assistance for Pakistan Earthquake Victims (SPAPEV), established in Pakistan after the October 2005 killer earthquake, is constructing pre-fabricated houses in the calamity hit area of Balakot in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "We have so far built 1, 800 out of 4000 pre-fabricated houses, which were committed by Saudi Arabia after the devastating tremors," SPAPEV Deputy Regional Director Dr.Khalid M Al-Othmani told The Saudi Press Agency Wednesday. SPAPEV, the Saudi relief organization, is working under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin AbdulAziz, under the supervision of Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, and under guidance of Dr. Saed Al Harithy, Advisor to the Interior Minister and Chairman of the relief organization. In the aftermath of the earthquake, Saudi Arabia emerged as the single largest contributor to the relief operation with aid in excess of $573 million. Al-Othmani said that every week at least 200 pre-fabricated houses were reaching Pakistan from foreign countries with which the SPAPEV had placed orders for manufacturing them. "We are actively engaged in the reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in the earthquake affected areas of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir, " Al-Othmani said. --MORE
