Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) has asked the FATA secretariat to provide all details into the local and international NGOs working in the tribal region.

Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman has chaired the committee meeting on Wednesday in which several decisions were taken pertaining to FATA area.

Senator Saleh Shah from South Waziristan has staged a walkout of the committee, saying that locals are being ignored in recruitment of staff by the local and international NGOs despite strict directives by the governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to prefer locals in hiring.

“Discriminatory approach has been adopted against FATA people and they are being sidelined which brew deprivations among tribal masses,” Shah remarked.

He asked the FATA Secretariat to provide all details into the staff hired by those NGOs to know how many locals have been recruited.

In addition, the committee also took notice of hiring procedures of levies force—- an ill-equipped local security force of the embattled region.

Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi said the local administration is creating hurdles instead of resolving legitimate problems of tribal people and their public representatives.

“Accelerated steps are needed to make the system in FATA efficient and functional”, Afridi noted.

On levies force issue, a sub-committee was formed with Senator Saleh Shah its convener while Senator Hidyatullah and Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi as its members.

Sikander Qayyum, additional chief secretary (ACS) FATA reassured the committee that all records into the issue would be collected and presented before the sub-committee for further necessary action.

To a question, Ashfaq Ahmad, assistant political (APA) agent South Waziristan Agency, said that Rs. 20 and Rs. 500 were being collected on per domicile and passport back in 2010 in South Waziristan Agency. However, the fee for making domicile was raised to Rs 50 in 2016.

The committee expressed serious reservations on the role of political administration South Waziristan because the once vibrant Governor Model School Tank was said to be in shambles and presented a deserted look now.

FATA ACS acknowledged that the school has lost its past glory but he reassured the committee that steps would be taken to resolve problems of the school.

The officials of FATA Secretariat told the committee that seven small dams have been completed in tribal areas while construction on seven such dams is underway.

Senator Rehman said that FATA has huge potential to produce electricity but the government is needed to allocate funds for such projects, which would bring progress and prosperity to the region and the country.

“If the government pays heed to initiate power and energy projects in FATA then it will help control the growing power shortage in the country”, he added.

The committee was told that FATA Development Authority (FDA) has issued two licenses for oil and gas exploration and four other licenses for mineral exploration.

Senator Hilal has expressed satisfaction over development activities in FATA region amid optimism that expanded projects would help generate job opportunities for FATA people.

Senators Muhammad Saleh Shah, Taj Muhammad, Haji Momin Khan Afridi, Hydytullah, Sajjad Hussain Tori, Najm ul Hassan, Ahmad Hussan, Khanzada Khan, Secretary SAFRON, officials of FATA Secretariat and other concerned departments attended the meeting.

Published in Daily Times, January 11^th 2018.