EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION: APPROVAL OF "MASS" TECHNOLOGY BY GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN

SARID, March 2, 2007

The Membrane Assisted Seismic-Responsive Structures (MASS), a proprietary technology developed by Javed Sultan, the Executive Director of SARID, Inc., has been approved as a technology for earthquake reconstruction by the Government of Pakistan and the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA). This technology joins Masonry/Concrete, Steel and Wood as a fourth approved technology supported by the Government of Pakistan for reconstruction of individual homes.

Membrane Assisted Seismic-Responsive Structures (MASS) is expected to be 30% to 40% cheaper then others and takes half the time to build. It is non-combustible and a green building process, which relies on use of locally and freely available granular material and soil to construct the houses. This design can be constructed in approximately four weeks and local inhabitants can be easily trained to construct their own homes; it is an answer to the challenges of high material transportation cost, architectural fee, and lengthy construction process (Read more about MASS technology in Sarid Journal).

Mr. Sultan is offering the proprietary technology, patent pending, free of any licensing or patent fee to individual victims of October 2005 earthquake and for non-commercial use. Aga Khan Foundation has also expressed its intention to help financially anyone who chooses to use Mr. Sultan’s technology in the area.

The approval of the technology was hailed as an important step in rebuilding of the earthquake-devastated areas and an opportunity for further momentum in the reconstruction process. The MASS technology “will be able to provide [people with] safe dwelling within the funds allocated by Government for each household,” says Ashraf Abbasi, Chairman of the Pakistani American Congress in Washington, DC, in his congratulatory letter to Mr. Sultan. “This will save thousands of precious lives because those areas are still quake vulnerable and aftershocks continue,” Mr. Abbasi further notes.

Please check soon for more information about SARID's Low Cost Housing project

* * *

Please support SARID's humanitarian work. Even $1 of your contribution can make a significant difference! Donate online.