HANGU: Adviser to Chief Minister on Excise and Taxation Syed Ghazan Jamal said on Tuesday that merged areas were tax free zone and the offices of Excise and Taxation Department would only deal with narcotics cases in the tribal districts.
Speaking at a press conference, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan were giving special attention to the development of merged tribal areas to improve the lot of the people. “A number of development projects, including provision of water, electricity, gas, construction of roads, cadet college, technical college and others have been approved for the Orakzai district to improve standard of life of the people,” the advisor said, adding that work was halted due to coronavirus pandemic but now the projects were being executed in the nook and corner of the district. Explaining the one year performance, Ghazan Jamal said that nine new roads would be constructed in the four tehsils of Orakzai with a cost of Rs1.70 billion. In the education sector, the advisor said that a cadet college and a technical college had been approved in Khadezai area while Rs2 billion scholarships would be given to the students of the district. He said that one each gridstation were being established in Kalaya and Ghiljo areas while work was going on on 14 power feeders. Ghazan Jamal said that 20 mosques were solarized while 18 more solar tube-wells were approved for different areas of the district.
He said that a sports complex and a sports stadium would be established in Kalaya and Ghiljo areas. He urged the people to keep a vigil on the standard of development projects and report anomalies to him or other responsible officials if any.