All weather flights to Northern Areas assured

The government will operate all weather flights (AWF) to Northern Areas (NAs), said Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, the federal minister for Kashmir Affairs and NAs, while talking to a delegation of District Ghizer of NAs here on Saturday.
The delegation met the minister led by Dr Ali Madad Sher, chairman district council district Ghizer. A weeklong visit programme for the members of district council Ghizer was arranged by Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) through its political empowerment project.
According to the delegation members, the minister said that PIA flights are not meeting the travelling requirements of NAs, that's why government has planned to operate all weather flights to the areas to overcome the travelling problems.
The minister further promised the delegation to enhance development budget for the local government members.
The members of the district Ghizer also informed the minister about the unequal distribution of development budget of local government by the deputy chief executive NAs.
They informed the minister that according to the distribution rules, fifty-percent development budget is allocated equally, while the remaining 50 percent fund is distributed among the districts according to their population ratio.
However, the members were of the view that the deputy chief executive of the NAs has earmarked Rs 7.5 crore to his own district (Gilgit) as against only Rs 5.5 crore among the other remaining five districts.
They said that the minister has promised to ensure justice in the distribution of development funds among all districts.
The minister also told the delegation that according to the 33 percent representation of women in the local government, the development budget would also be increased accordingly.
The members also informed the minister about the damages in their district due to flood and heavy water flow last year.
Faisal appreciated the role of the people of district Ghizer in the country's defence and maintaining peace in the area.
The delegation thanked Faisal for metalling of Phandar-Shandoor road. However, they said that a part of the road had still to be metalled.
The meeting demanded that capacity building courses for councilors and women political school and women crisis centre be set up in Northern Areas.
The delegation also met Danyal Aziz, the Chairman National Reconstruction Bureau and discussed the matter pertaining to the devolution plan.
Danyal promised them that devolution plan would soon be extended to the NAs.
He also asked the district councilors for sending a resolution for implementation of local government system in the area.
The delegation included Chairman District Council Ghizer Dr Ali Madad Sher, district councilors namely Mohammad Nadeem Ayub Vice chairman, Ali Gohar, Shaheen Khan, Sher Jahan Khan, Shah Mohammad, Yasmeen Nazar, Zubaida Bibi, Naheed Zaman, Mirza Baig, Project Co-ordinator AKRSP Azizullah Beg and Consultant AKRSP Mrs Tahia Noor.