Govt asked to declare quake-hit areas calamity-hit

TIMERGARA: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leader and Member National Assembly from Lower Dir Sahibzada Yaqub Khan on Sunday demanded the federal government to declare earthquake affected areas of Malakand as calamity-hit and announce special package for all the affectees.
Talking to The News after visiting the affected areas in Maidan and Samar Bagh, the MNA said that hundreds of JI and Al-Khidmat Foundation workers had been engaged in relief and rehabilitation activities in the quake affected areas. He said the amount given to the earthquake victims was too meager for rebuilding their houses. He said the government should take prompt step for the rehabilitation of the affectees.
Meanwhile, Malik Khurshid Iqbal of the Muttahida group was elected as president and Salahbuddin of the Al-Khidmat group as general secretary of the Lower Dir Paramedics Association. The election was held at DHQ Hospital Timergara, THQs Munda and Chakdarra on Sunday wherein 322 class-III employees of public sector hospital polled votes through secret ballots.