Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday said new laws and the governance system to be enforced in the merged areas of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be made compatible with the existing tribal traditions.

Addressing a 40-member jirga of District Khyber here at the Governor House, the prime minister paid gratitude to them for maintaining peace in their areas during the transition period when there were no laws enforced for almost a year since the announcement of the merger. “This shows that the old tribal system is peace-loving as even before 9/11, the tribal areas had minimal crime rate and people were also getting easy justice through an indigenous governance system,” he said, adding that the new system will almost be compatible with the old one and the government will try to ensure its minimum impact on the local tribal traditions and culture.

The prime minister, who arrived here on a brief visit, said the government has learned lesson from the experience of Dir and Swat when the crime rate had swollen dramatically after the merger of two areas. This happened because the people of those areas had no understanding of the laws enforced in the settled areas. He said the government will enforce alternate dispute resolution mechanism in the merged areas too that had also been experimented in KP during the last five years. He said the new local government system was also similar to the governance system in the tribal areas. Under the system, village councils will be formed and the villages will get direct funding and be empowered to make their own decisions regarding development. Similar system will also be introduced in Punjab province, he added.

The prime minister said though the merger of tribal areas is not an easy task, however the government will ensure the resolution of their problems with the consultation of tribal elders through an exclusive committee. He said the parliament has increased the number of seats for merged tribal areas before the upcoming elections and in future they will get full representation in both National Assembly and the provincial assemblies.

The prime minister recalled that in the past there was nobody to raise voice for the tribal people when they had been facing terrorism, displacement during the military operation and drone attacks. However, after the merger with KP, this will not happen again, he assured.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet to ensure price control of eatables in the province and take action against the hoarders immediately.

In a meeting with the members of the provincial cabinet during his brief visit to Peshawar, the prime minister asked the provincial government to monitor the prices on daily basis for common man’s relief, saying that protection of masses’ rights is the government’s priority.

Referring to the prevailing condition of the national economy, the prime minister said from the very first day he had been hinting at tough days ahead as the government had inherited a record fiscal deficit.

He said the brotherly countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE and China extended urgent assistance to provide a breathing space to the economy and the government is thankful for their gesture.

He hoped that the situation will soon improve with the increase in exports and remittances. Moreover, the foreign investment will also go up consequent to the government’s ongoing measures.

While addressing a fund-raising dinner of Shuakat Khanum Memorial Hospital Peshawar, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the government has resolved to improve public sector hospitals as per international standards and that there is no plan to privatize them. A handful of doctors are out to sabotage the heath reforms undertaken by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, he said, adding that reforms will be introduced by rectifying administrative and management system of the government hospitals which are currently in poor state of affairs. He directed the KP chief minister to hold talks with the protesting doctors to resolve the matter amicably. He also asked the doctors whether they themselves are satisfied with treatment facilities at the government hospitals.

The prime minister said he is well aware of the fact that health delivery system in the public sector hospitals is not that of international standards. He said a big lie is being propagated about the privatisation of government hospitals and declared in clear terms that there is no such plan under consideration. “We are just rectifying administrative and management system of the public sector hospitals which has nothing to do with privatisation,” he added.