K-P financial relief: Doubts shroud govt decision to extend package

Loan write-offs announced for people in Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Shangla.


Shahbaz Rana February 14, 2012

ISLAMABAD:


The government on Monday extended the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) financial relief package to three other districts of the province.


According to an announcement by the Prime Minister House, the premier has extended the facility of loan write-offs to the war-affected districts of Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Shangla. The facility was extended following a request by the parliamentarians of K-P, it added.

Under the relief package, the government will write off up to Rs500000 in loans of the affected borrowers.

The government had announced a financial relief package that included tax waivers and loan write-offs after the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank had released a joint Damage and Need Assessment Report for the areas affected by the military operation launched in 2009. According to the report, the militancy and consequent military operation in those areas had led to a colossal loss of $1.3 billion.

The Revised Relief Package approved in March 2010, intended to rehabilitate business activities in K-P and the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata), was originally extended to the districts of Swat, Buner, Chitral and Malakand.

Some surprises

The decision to extend the package to Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Shangla surprises many since these districts have already recovered from the catastrophe. Observers say the move is aimed to influence voters from these districts.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidates had won seats from Upper and Lower Dir in the 2008 elections, while Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid candidate Engineer Amir Muqam got elected from Shangla.

However, PPP’s Malik Azmat Khan from Lower Dir defended the move. Talking to The Express Tribune, he said that the government had originally announced the relief package for the entire Malakand division, but its implementation in Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Shangla was deferred due to a scarcity of funds.  He added that the prime minister had promised to include these districts three months ago. Khan said the extension would cost Rs350 million and the amount would only be distributed among those who fulfill the basic criteria.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2012.

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