Oil, gas royalties: Jirga protests exclusion of elders from govt’s body

BANNU: The jirga of elders of Spinwam and Shawa tehsils in the Bannu division on Saturday complained of being ignored by the government in the committee formed by the provincial government, threatening that they would not cooperate with the new body.

The jirga elder ex-candidate for the provincial assembly seat Malik Liaqat Ali Khan while talking to reporters at the press club said Bannu division commissioner had issued a press release about the names of elders of government and Uthmanzai committee.

However, he complained that the elders had not been given any representation in the government and Uthmanzai committee where oil and gas had been discovered.

He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief Minister had formed a 22-member committee comprising parliamentary members from North Waziristan, Uthmanzai elders, and officials from the relevant departments to address issues related to the distribution of oil and

gas royalties and other matters in the North Waziristan region.

The Bannu commissioner, he said, also made a formal announcement regarding the inclusion of Uthmanzai elders in the committee, which was a positive step and a welcome sign for giving the tribal people their due rights to resources. However, the elders from the Spinwam and Shawa tehsils where huge oil and gas reservoirs had been discovered were completely ignored.

He said this decision had made the committee’s formation questionable, adding that this oversight had raised concerns of further injustices toward these tehsils.

Malik Liaqat said that Spinwam and Shawa were among the most underdeveloped tehsils in Bannu division and they lacked basic facilities. For the development of these areas, he said it was necessary that the people of these regions should have been granted their fundamental rights over the resources discovered here, and that their elders be given representation in the government and the Uthmanzai committee.

He urged Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry and Commissioner Bannu Division Abid Wazir to include the elders from both tehsils in the committee.