PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caretaker Minister for Tribal Affairs, Dr Aamir Abdullah was optimistic that release the committed funds worth Rs100 billion would surely help resolve issues relating to uplift activities in the tribal districts.
These views were expressed by him while addressing a tribal jirga held in the Deputy Commissioner’s Committee Room at Wana, district headquarters South Waziristan on Thursday.
The jirga was attended by Deputy Commissioner (DC) South Waziristan Lower Nasir Khan, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Kashmir Khan, District Police Officer (DPO) Farmanullah Wardag and district heads of various department and tribal elites.
The tribal elders highlighted problems on the occasion. Development projects, law & order and hurdles in uplift schemes in the district were discussed in detail.
The tribal elders especially complained regarding unfulfillment of commitments made at the time of the merger of erstwhile Federal Administered Tribal Area (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and neither final shape was given to the recommendations of the Sartaj Aziz headed committee in this regard.
They requested the provincial minister for utilization of all available resources of the provincial government to initiate large-scale development schemes in the district to mitigate the problems of the residents of South Waziristan Lower.
The tribal elders and elected public representatives of the local government also highlighted various other issues and called for their address.
In response to the demands of the tribal elders and elites, Aamir Abdullah conceded hurdles in the release of the committed fund for the development of the tribal region.
However, he said that the provincial government was in constant contact with the federal government in that regard.
Speaking about borders demarcation between South Waziristan Lower, South Waziristan Upper and North Waziristan, the minister said that a commission would be formed soon to settle the dispute and added that Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) had already been assigned the task in this regard.
