Pakistan quake survivors stage anti-graft protest

ISLAMABAD, Oct 7 (Reuters) Hundreds of survivors of last year's earthquake in Pakistan today staged an anti-graft protest outside parliament, accusing officials in charge of reconstruction of corruption.

Waving placards reading ''stop taking bribes,'' ''spend the winter with us,'' and ''build our homes before snowfall'', the demonstrators marched from parliament in Islamabad to the office of the state Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA).

The protest comes a day before the first anniversary of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless in Pakistani occupied Kashmir (pok) and parts of the North West Frontier Province.

''For the past four and a half months, I have received not a single penny,'' said Gohar Rehman, a father of five who had come from Muzaffarabad, the devastated capital of pok.

A month after the disaster, international donors pledged .5 billion for Pakistan to help it through the relief, recovery and reconstruction phases of the crisis but many protesters said they were not receiving enough assistance.

International aid agency Oxfam in a report this week also said the progress of recovery was patchy and administrative bottlenecks and corruption had compounded problems for victims.

President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday dismissed the criticism and said reconstruction activities were going well.

He also described Oxfam's assessment that at least 1.8 million people living in makeshift shelters and tents were at risk from the Himalayan winter as grossly exaggerated.

He said only 35,000 people living in tents would be facing winter under canvas.

REUTERS KD PM1717