Governor highlights dividends of peace during Tirah visit

Says Fata has bright future due to ongoing development work

MASTAK (Khyber Agency): Inaugurating a newly built bridge on the Bara river and performing the opening ceremony of work on the Shin Kamar-Dwa Toi road here in Tirah valley on Tuesday, Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan said the return of peace in Khyber Agency had enabled the government to undertake development projects costing Rs9 billion.

The Governor flew to the scenic Mastak area in a helicopter to inaugurate the two projects and meet tribal elders who had come from different parts of Khyber Agency. He was accompanied by Member of National Assembly Nasir Khan Afridi, Senator Taj Mohammad Afridi, senior government officials and a media team. Army officers were also present on the occasion.

Governor Sardar Mahtab decided on the spur of the moment to visit the Bara Market, which is due to reopen on February 5 after remaining closed for several years due to militancy and military operations. He also paid a visit to the Spera Dam, which is undergoing major repair work to clear its clogged three kilometres tunnel so that it could irrigate 38,000 acres of land in the Bara plains. 

Mastak and its surroundings, inhabited by the Akakhel Afridi sub-tribe, have been cleared of militants as a result of the sustained military operation in Tirah valley, but its displaced population has yet to return home. The mud-built houses in Sadaq village in Mastak across the river Bara were empty and the only people in the area were the soldiers, the road-construction workers and the guests who had come there for the event. 

The Governor was applauded when he announced to the gathering of tribal elders that repatriation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) would begin next month and all the one million IDPs would be able to return home before the end of 2016.

Highlighting the dividends of peace and emphasizing the need for the honest use of resources, Sardar Mahtab said the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) was destined to have a bright future due to the unprecedented development work being carried out in the next three to five years. “In five years, Fata would hopefully be better than some districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including my native Abbottabad,” he remarked. “This place in Tirah could become a hill-resort by the Bara river and offer recreational facilities to the people of Peshawar and beyond,” he added.

The Governor said the people of Fata had suffered a lot due to the mistakes committed by some of its population and also by the rulers, but the situation had changed and now a new journey of peace and progress was beginning. “The resources ought to be spent on the tribal people as it is their due. I want to vindicate myself before the people and Allah by spending the money on the welfare of the people of Fata,” he added.

Talking about the development plans for Khyber Agency, the Governor said the RCC bridge at Mastak had cost Rs79 million and built by the Pakistan Army’s Corps of Engineers in five months. He added that the Shin Kamar-Dwa Toi road to be expanded to Maidan would be built in two phases and would eventually link up Central Kurram and Orakzai Agency with Peshawar and enable the people to travel directly instead of undertaking the 100 kms extra journey through Hangu. He said the Shin Kamar-Dwa Toi phase of the road would be completed by June this year. He also announced the repair and rehabilitation of the 91 kms Mathra-Bagh-Maidan road at a cost of Rs440 million. “These roads and bridges would open up these beautiful valleys and bring a positive change in the lives of the people,” he argued.

Earlier, the Akakhel tribal elder Malik Zahir Shah presented a traditional turban to the Governor. Later during his visit to the Bara Market, the Governor instructed the officials that the government project to build a standard marketplace and the façade of the old market on both sides of the widened road must be strictly monitored and no payment should be made to contractors in case of any deficiency. He talked to tribesmen busy repairing their shops and asked them if they were getting the financial compensation package being given by the government to the repatriating families.

At the Spera Dam, the Governor stressed the need for accelerating the pace of work so that irrigation water is made available for the land in the plains of Bara. “This area would become the granary of this region once the land is irrigated to produce all kinds of crops,” he pointed out.