Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah has stressed the need to make special efforts for ensuring efficient implementation on development projects meant for socio-economic uplift for the people of Fata and make it possible that the targets supposed to be achieved in years and months are materialised much earlier.
Addressing the launching ceremony of the Rural Livelihood and Community Infrastructure Project meant for South Waziristan, Momand and Bajaur Agencies held at Governor's House, Peshawar on Thursday, the Governor described the programme a unique initiative of Fata Secretariat and the World Bank.
The project, he added, would make the provision of public service delivery mechanism at the local community level of the respective tribal agencies through engaging indigenous Community Based Organisations and mainstream their development needs, requirements and demands of the community to develop a larger public service delivery mechanism of Fata Secretariat for future ADP intervention. This, he remarked, should be a success story and no effort would be spared to make this possible.
The multi-donors funded project costing US $12 million is envisaged to be implemented in 45 months through the active support of the World Bank. Raynold Duncan, Operations Advisor of World Bank addressing the occasion highlighted the importance of the project and the role of donors in its implementation, and Shahzad Khan Bangash, the Secretary, Planning and Development of Fata Secretariat, while mentioning the mechanism and the administrative arrangements placed on ground for the project, said the community involvement and sharing based project would be of great help to the internally displaced people in re-starting their life in their respective areas.
Additional Chief Secretary, Fata Dr Tashfeen Khan and the other senior officials of Fata Secretariat were also present on the occasion. The governor also delivered solar re-chargeable lamps to the tribal elders present on the occasion as a token of the support to be extended under the project during the implementation process.
Engineer Shaukatullah advised the tribal elders to also educate the people of their restive tribes and areas about the benefits to be accrued from this highly beneficial initiative of the government. "We are all aware that Fata lags behind other parts of the country across a wide range of social and economic indicators, even more catastrophic when viewed as an aftermath of insurgency and conflict."
The region, he added, was the most underdeveloped in Pakistan with over 60 percent of its population living below poverty line. The ranks of the unemployed had further risen with the deepening of the crisis in 2009-10, he said. In light of the given circumstances, the Governor pointed out, he felt pleased to host the inaugural ceremony of Rural Livelihood Project of Fata Secretariat by MDTF World Bank at Governor's House. In fact, he said, while a majority of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) had returned to their places of origin; many had lost their homes and livelihoods and those, who stayed behind had suffered equally and tended to be just as poor and vulnerable as the IDPs.
Raynold Duncan, in his speech, said the project would be supported through the multi-donors sponsored Trust Fund in a phased manner and was meant to address needs of the respective people who would also be involved right from the basic stage of planning.