Displaced persons: In Swat, little rebuilt, returning people still unpaid
Local residents, social workers and officials not on same page about rehabilitation.
SWAT:
The past two years might have been significant for Swat’s history but not for its development.
As those displaced by military operation against militants to regain state control over Swat in 2009 return home and begin rebuilding their lives, nothing much seems to have been rebuilt or regained.
“The writ of the state has been restored but the rule of law is still a cherished dream,” says Swat-based activist Ziauddin Yousufzai. “Civil administration and the judiciary are not independent or powerful.”
Listing sectors that require the most focus, Yousufzai identifies agriculture, communications and tourism. “As many as 89 of 176 heavily-damaged schools are under construction. But none of them has so far been rebuilt completely,” he said.
He believes that most non-government and community-based organisations are wasting millions of aid on cosmetic endeavours. “Barring the Swat University and Cadet College, no major projects have been initiated. No attention has been paid to art and culture, and the historical museum of Swat is a haunted, empty building,” he says.
Some resentment against the government is also building up, a sign that many analysts have warned against.
“The government has not fulfilled the promise that it will provide monetary compensation to the injured and families of the dead,” says social worker Fazal Wahab. “Hundreds of owners of destroyed houses are also yet to be paid.”
But in official corridors, the return and rehabilitation process is considered a success.
Speaking to reporters in Swat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the safe return of a large number of displaced persons in just three months is a major success of the government and the army.
When asked about the slow pace of reconstruction and rehabilitation, he said: “Today, all areas cut off by floods have been reconnected to the rest of Pakistan. We admit that restoring infrastructure to its previous position is a difficult task and will take time.”
Army presence, he said, will be reduced after complete normalisation of the situation. “They have already minimised their presence. There are now only three checkposts as opposed to 219. After the cantonment is constructed, the army will be moved there.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2011.
The past two years might have been significant for Swat’s history but not for its development.
As those displaced by military operation against militants to regain state control over Swat in 2009 return home and begin rebuilding their lives, nothing much seems to have been rebuilt or regained.
“The writ of the state has been restored but the rule of law is still a cherished dream,” says Swat-based activist Ziauddin Yousufzai. “Civil administration and the judiciary are not independent or powerful.”
Listing sectors that require the most focus, Yousufzai identifies agriculture, communications and tourism. “As many as 89 of 176 heavily-damaged schools are under construction. But none of them has so far been rebuilt completely,” he said.
He believes that most non-government and community-based organisations are wasting millions of aid on cosmetic endeavours. “Barring the Swat University and Cadet College, no major projects have been initiated. No attention has been paid to art and culture, and the historical museum of Swat is a haunted, empty building,” he says.
Some resentment against the government is also building up, a sign that many analysts have warned against.
“The government has not fulfilled the promise that it will provide monetary compensation to the injured and families of the dead,” says social worker Fazal Wahab. “Hundreds of owners of destroyed houses are also yet to be paid.”
But in official corridors, the return and rehabilitation process is considered a success.
Speaking to reporters in Swat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the safe return of a large number of displaced persons in just three months is a major success of the government and the army.
When asked about the slow pace of reconstruction and rehabilitation, he said: “Today, all areas cut off by floods have been reconnected to the rest of Pakistan. We admit that restoring infrastructure to its previous position is a difficult task and will take time.”
Army presence, he said, will be reduced after complete normalisation of the situation. “They have already minimised their presence. There are now only three checkposts as opposed to 219. After the cantonment is constructed, the army will be moved there.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2011.