NWFP Governor Lieutenant General Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah (retd) has said the process of people's empowerment in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) has begun that would be taken to conclusion. He said this while addressing the Kurram Agency Council members at Parachinar.
During his visit to agency, the Governor performed the ground breaking ceremony of a small dam at Kot Ragha, laid the foundation stone for a Degree College and inaugurated a water supply scheme and a community health centre.
The governor said all powers would be delegated to the councils, and urged the tribesmen, particularly the councillors to play their role in the development of the area.
The success of the new system, he said, depended on the sincerity and confidence of the elected councillors and the government functionaries, adding if both of them performed and delivered enthusiastically, the system would also deliver.
The Governor said: "We want to empower those councils in line with the district councils with full powers and authority," but he made it clear the powers should be exercised for collective and community benefits.
Those councils, he added, would be like a bridge between the government and the people and would go a long way in changing the entire system in the tribal areas.
The Governor said the government would place all the development resources at the disposal of the councils to be used for the welfare and prosperity of the people.
He said the annual development plan (ADP) would be finally approved by the councils whereas the identifications of schemes would be made by the respective departments and by the planning and finance cell at agency level. However, the councils would have the authority to discuss and amend the development schemes by fixing the priorities, he added.
He said the government would place as many as Rs 500 million annually at the disposal of the councils, urging the councillors to ensure effective and judicious utilisation of the public money. Besides, he also stressed the need for accountability of the respective departments.
The Governor hoped the councillors would decide the matter with mutual understandings.
Agency Councillors Malik Fakhr Zaman Bangash, Haji Aun Ali and lady councillor Najmeena also spoke on the occasion.
Later addressing the grand tribal Jirga of Kurram Agency at Parachinar, the Governor announced that the process of change in Fata could be delayed but not stopped and would reach its ultimate conclusion within the next few years.
He congratulated the people of the agency for smoothly conducting the election process for agency councils, and said that that initiative would make the people of the Fata independent in real sense as they would come out of the clutches of the century-old colonial system.
Iftikhar Shah said that President General Pervez Musharraf was taking very keen and personal interest in the development of Fata and enhancement in the development outlay for the Fata was the result of his earnest desire to develop the tribal areas.
In Kurram Agency, the Governor said one billion rupees were being spent on development, and added that huge amount, if properly utilised, would lead the agency towards unprecedented development.
He urged the tribesmen to be aware of the negative activities of the anti-state elements and strengthen unity and sense of brotherhood during the month of Muharram.
He appreciated the people of Kurram Agency for maintaining peace and sectarian harmony during the recent years, and hoped they would continue to discharge their responsibilities.
The Governor described peace as the prerequisite for development, and cited the example of South Waziristan Agency where the development process had almost stopped, whereas in rest of the Fata, it was going on with full swing.
The Governor said that foreign terrorists in South Waziristan Agency had been wiped out and now their local facilitators were also coming forward to co-operate in the government in the establishment of peace in the agency.
He said that understanding with Baitullah Mehsud was about to reach and positive results would emerge in a couple of days.
Fata Senators Rashid Ahmad and Mian Sajjad Hussain and National Assembly member Munir Orakzai and Syed Javed Hussain, Secretary to Governor Sahibzada Saeed Ahmad and Political Agent Dr Tashfeen Khan were also present on the occasion.