Govt received $5m out of $35m pledges: Hoti

Ameer Haider Hoti has said that his government has so far received only $5m out of the $35m for the reconstruction.

MINGORA: The chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has said that his government has so far received only $5 million out of the $35 million pledged for the reconstruction of the strife-torn Malakand division.

Security forces recently quelled an insurgency spearheaded by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah and hundreds of his loyalists who wanted to enforce their own hardline version of Islamic laws in the region. Barring sporadic incidents of violence, security forces have, by and large, purged the area of extremists.

Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti said the Pakistan Army would supervise the process of reconstruction and rehabilitation in the region to ensure transparency. He was speaking to journalists during his daylong visit to Swat Valley.

Hoti announced a number of infrastructure development projects for the region, saying that 50 steel bridges would be constructed in Malakand division to facilitate connectivity. “The Mingora bypass project, which will provide an important link with northern parts of Swat, will be completed this year at a cost of Rs220 million,” he added.

Maulana Fazlullah’s loyalists had dynamited a number of bridges, schools and other government buildings during their bloody campaign, inflicting an irreparable loss on the local infrastructure.

The chief minister said his government was planning some mega development projects in the region. “We will build a unique monument park in Swat in the memory of those killed during the insurgency,” he said. “Classes in the Swat University will also start within four months,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, senior ANP leader Afzal Khan Lala said that peace could not be restored in the region in true sense unless local institutions were strengthened and schools rebuilt.

Lala said that the provincial government should expedite the reconstruction process to regain the confidence of local population. Afzal Khan Lala said they had put up a bold fight and refused to give in to militants when ANP leaders in Swat were being targeted by Maulana Fazlullah’s loyalists.

Earlier Chief Minister Hoti also inaugurated the Ayub Bridge which was blown up by militants last year, disconnecting Kabal sub-division from Mingora, the commercial hub of Swat. He also attended a photo exhibition on Swat where photographs of some of the well-known photographers of the country were on display.

The chief minister praised the Pakistan Army for restoring peace in Swat and the people of Swat for putting up a bold fight against militants. He said each photograph was a story in itself. “This exhibition will also be taken to other countries to show to the world the sacrifices of the Pakistan Army and the people of Swat,” he added.

Hoti also held out an assurance that the provincial government would restore the lost glory of Swat which used to be a popular tourist attraction before the insurgency.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2010.