Adviser to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and spokesperson for provincial government Ajmal Wazir has said that merger of ex-tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is being carried out on fast tracks and so far going very smoothly adding that both the federal and provincial governments have chalked out a 10-year comprehensive development plan worth billions of rupees for the merged districts which will usher in a new era of development and prosperity in the area.
He expressed these views while addressing public gatherings at various places in North Waziristan during his four days long official visit to the district. He said that fast track development of the merged districts to bring them at par with other developed areas of the country in order to incorporate them into the national mainstream was the top most priority of the incumbent federal and provincial governments which were utilizing all the availble resources for the purpose.
"The ex-Fata comprising the area from Waziristan to Bajaur is replete with precious natural resources has been neglected for a very long time and as such poverty, backwardness, illiteracy, lawlessness and other social evils had grabbed the area and resultantly it has lagged behind the other areas in the field of development; and the draconian discriminatory law (FCR) enforced in the area has added much to the miseries of the locals", said the adviser.
He continued that now all these are just the tales of the past because the present government under the visionary leadership of prime minister Imran Khan has not only made necessary constitutional amendments but had also taken other concrete steps to merge the area with one of its federating units with the aim to bring it to the national mainstream.
Touching upon the merger process Ajmal Wazir said that although administrative, legal, financial and judicial merger of the area with KP has been completed successfully but still there is long way to go, and both the federal and provincial governments are extremely committed to complete the merger process as soon as possible to be followed by an extensive developmental activities in the area.