Shoddy relief efforts: FDMA director general sacked over dismal performance

Displaced persons complain of lack of basic facilities at IDP camps.

PESHAWAR: The director general (DG) of the FATA Disaster Management Authority has been removed for failing to ensure the provision of adequate facilities for internally displaced persons.

An official at the Governor House told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity that DG Arshad Khan has been demoted to officer on special duty (OSD) on the directives of Governor Sardar Mehtab Abbasi. Administration secretary Abid Majeed has been made acting DG of the disaster management authority.



The official added Khan was removed from his post after numerous complaints were received from IDPs regarding insufficient facilities and poor living conditions in the camps set up for them across the province.

“The decision was made after jirga leader Mian Nasrullah Khan complained that the IDP camps lacked proper facilities and the government-initiated electronic money transfer scheme was not being implemented,” said the official.

“The governor has already made it clear that no compromise will be made over any laxity in providing relief to displaced families,” he added.

In the aftermath of the military offensive in North Waziristan when relief activities began, Arshad Khan had said that the FDMA is actively supporting the displaced persons and Rs400 million had been distributed among 30,000 displaced families.

He also claimed medicines had been provided to hospitals in Bannu with the support of the provincial government and the procedure of cash disbursement among IDPs had been simplified.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2014.