The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) are not completely off-limits and there is considerable potential for investment in the area, said Fata Additional Chief Secretary Dr Tashfeen Khan.
“We cannot wait for this war to be over,” he said, adding that militants need to be denied a safe haven and this requires commitment.
Speaking at the first Donors Coordination Steering Committee (DCSC) meeting in Islamabad, Khan said the government was determined to provide the tribal people with necessary facilities available to other Pakistanis. While admitting that schools, health care facilities, roads and bridges were dilapidated, he insisted that the government was determined in its efforts to develop Fata.
“The new schools and health care facilities in every Annual Developmental Plan are examples of our commitment,” he said. “The devastation wrought by the current situation, however, demands even greater investment.”
Unfavourable conditions in Fata persist due to the unregulated Afghan border, lack of economic opportunities, the absence of democracy, crippled infrastructure and an unvarying insurgency, he claimed. The people of Fata must have a voice in the development process, he added.
In response to queries, Khan said the government was establishing an investment bank and a land revenue system. The government is also exploring new avenues of economic growth and democracy promotion through the local government system.
He called for an independent power policy for the tribal belt. Commenting on the outflow of labour to Gulf countries, he said: “We intend to tie down the people to their own land so that they can enjoy peace, progress and development within the tribal belt.”
On the status of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), Khan said that the evacuated areas desperately require concerted reconstruction and rehabilitation. The government facilitated the return of IDPs to Bajaur and would do so in other areas, he added.
Earlier, Planning and Development Fata Secretary Shehzad Khan Bangash, said in his welcome address that the steering committee provides a platform for the stakeholders to build a shared understanding towards development as envisaged in the Paris Declaration.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2012.
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If I were to float a party in Pakistan I would call it PPP ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Pakistan Potential Party cause Pakistan is full of potential but lacks reality.