CM says govt committed to developing merged districts

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan on Monday said his government is committed to ensure development of the merged districts and lauded the community-driven social work and multiple CSR projects initiated by Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL) in North Waziristan under Sustainability & corporate social responsibility programme.

“I am in contact with the federal government and also raised the development issue of merged districts (formerly known as FATA) with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently,” he told an certificate distribution ceremony of Mari Petroleum Company’s Skill Development Programme.

The ceremony was organised at the Sarhad Rural Support Programme’s Human Resource Development Centre in Peshawar at the successful completion of a three-month training program in different vocational skills for over 50 youths from North Waziristan.The chief minister said that he was happy to see the private sector playing its role as responsible stakeholder by investing in such community-centric projects in the areas of their business

operations .

“The merged districts of the province have not been given a fair deal and had suffered years of neglect,” he said and reiterated that the government was very keen to compensate for this and was making every effort to speed up the development process in the region.He welcomed and applauded the initiatives of Mari Petroleum and congratulated them for selecting a community-driven approach to the delivery of different services in the region.

The chief minister said that this approach would ensure that programmes were designed keeping in view the needs of the people and implemented with their active participation. “This will help build trust with the communities and develop a sense of ownership for the activities among the communities,” he added.

Azam Khan said that he had made it a point to meet community elders from the region on a weekly basis to listen to their problems and find solutions to them. He also urged other private organisations to learn from the initiative MPCL has taken for which the coming generations of North Waziristan will be thankful to the efforts put up by MPCL for the prosperity of their people and for the future of their children.

The function was attended by SNGPL’s officials, government officials from Planning and Development Department, tehsil mayor Razmak, local elders and maliks, trainees, their parents and SRSP board of directors.

Under one component of the project, SRSP, which is the implementing partner of MPCL, has trained 175 youth, 55 of whom received training in mobile and motorcycle repair and were given certificates. These are certified training courses conducted in affiliation with KP-TEVTA.

Brig Asad Raza (Retd) - chief of staff, MPCL, also spoke on the occasion about the company’s North Waziristan CSR Plan. He congratulated all the trainees for successful completion of the programme on behalf of MPCL.

He apprised the audience that the skills development program is part of MPCL’s comprehensive Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Plan, which was designed and rolled out in 2022 -23 for the people of North Waziristan.

The plan consists of 11 social development projects aimed at sustainable development of the area. He also appreciated support of all stakeholders including SNGPL and government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the successful implementation of the projects and applauded the excellent services provided by SRSP as its implementing partner.

Chief Executive Officer of Masood Ul Mulk explained that the present programme which includes repairs of schools and health centers, provision of Mobile Health services, vocational training and interventions in the agriculture and forestry sectors had an investment of over Rs250 million. Proactive efforts had been made to involve women in the project activities, he said and explained that all activities were undertaken with the active involvement of all major stakeholders in the government and security sectors; communities and the tribal elders at all stages of the project.

The CEO of SRSP thanked the chief minister for attending the function which showed his commitment to the uplift of the remote areas and marginalised communities. He said that as one of the founders of SRSP, Azam Khan can be proud of the contribution he has made to improving the life of people throughout this region through exemplary public service.

Local elders from North Waziristan, including Malik Samiullah, Malik Mehraban, Malik Fareedullah and Malik Qadar also expressed their views. They acknowledged the efforts being made by SRSP and MPCL with the support of the government and urged that this should continue in the long run.

Two of the young trainees also mentioned that this training will help them to start their own business and feed their families. Tehsil Mayor Razmak Bilal also spoke on the occasion and requested MPCL and chief minister to focus on climate change and encourage reforestation in Razmak which was once called Mini London.Chief Operating Officer, SRSP, Syed Aftab Ahmad, thanked all the major stakeholders and participants for participating in the function, many of them coming from long distances to be part of it.