Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) has directed the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to recruit tribesmen for their projects in the tribal region.

The committee recommended that parliamentarians might be included in the Steering Committee and Board of Directors of FATA Development Authority (FDA).

Earlier, a SAFRON meeting chaired by Senator Hilalur Rehman discussed a number of issues pertaining to FATA.

During that meeting, Senator Saleh Shah from South Waziristan had told the committee that locals were being ignored in recruitment process by the local and international NGOs despite strict directives by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to prefer them.

“Discriminatory approach has been adopted against FATA people and they are being sidelined,” Shah had said.

In the committee’s previous meetings, it was told that FDA had issued two licences for oil and gas exploration and four other licences for mineral exploration.

The SAFRON committee has now recommended that a signed contract of joint venture of FDA with Degaan Exploration Works might be submitted to it.

Furthermore, it recommended that pending SNEs of FDA might be cleared by the Finance Department and FATA Secretariat on priority basis. It also recommended regularisation of services of contractual employees at the FDA.

In former meetings, SAFRON committee had took notice of hiring procedures of Levies Force.

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

In addition, the SAFRON committee recommended that FATA parliamentarians might be involved in the official meetings regarding development schemes in FATA.

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

The officials of FATA Secretariat told the committee that seven small dams had been completed in tribal areas while work on seven dams was underway.

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

Published in Daily Times, January 31^st 2018.