The National Assembly Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) on Thursday approved in principle 38 development projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for financial year 2017-18 for Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The committee met here under the chairmanship of Muhammad Jamal-ud-Din and considered the proposed 38 unapproved new development projects under the PSDP for financial year 2017-18 in detail.
The committee decided that the members belonging to FATA will prioritise the projects in their respective constituencies and forward the same to the chairman standing committee within three working days which will subsequently be forwarded to the Ministry of SAFRON for further necessary action. Earlier the Chief Economist, FATA Secretariat, briefed the committee on the objectives and importance of the said proposed development projects for inclusion in the PSDP for financial year 2017-18 in detail.
He informed that FATA warrants special attention for inclusion of maximum development projects in the PSDP 2017-18 and requested the committee that the federal government may be recommended that the allocation for block allocation in the PSDP 2017-18 be doubled than the current year.
He further stated that for ongoing financial year the government has approved Rs 24.4 billion for various development schemes in FATA. Of the approved amount, Rs 11.1 billion have been set aside for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads in Khyber Agency including construction of 21-km long road from Sandana to Mastak at tehsil Jamrud, construction of 20-km road from Dawa Toi to Sandana Shin Qamar which will benefit 0.3 million people of the area and construction of 17-km road from Jamrud to Chappare via Gudar in Khyber Agency.
The committee recommended that Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform should include the proposed development projects of FATA in the coming PSDP for financial year 2017-18 and allocate the requisite budget in the PSDP in order to complete the development projects of FATA in time. The committee further recommended to the concerned quarters to make the water supply schemes of FATA functional, particularly in South Waziristan Agency where the temporarily dislocated persons (TDPs) have returned. The committee strongly recommended that additional funds should be allocated to the FATA agencies where no development work has been carried out for the last six to seven years due to law and order situation.
The meeting was also attended by MNAs Muhammad Nazir Khan, Ghalib Khan, Begum Tahira Bukhari, Iffat Liaqat, Sheikh Fayyaz-ud-Din, Mian Shahid Hussain Khan Bhatti, Ghulam Muhammad Lali, Aftab Shaban Mirani, Qaiser Jamal, Nasir Khan, Bilal Rehman and Bismillah Khan and officers/officials of the ministry.