TDPs protest lack of relief items, monthly cash

BANNU: The temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) dislocated after the launch of the military operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan on Monday staged a protest against the non-provision of monthly cash and other relief packages.

The protesters gathered outside the building of the Bannu Press Club and staged the protest. Malik Ghulam Khan Wazir was leading the protesters. The speakers said the Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDAM) had not released Rs12,000 monthly compensation money and other relief items to the (TDPs) families for the past three months.

They said the money was never released in time in the past as well and the affectees had to force the authority to release the amount by staging protests. The protesters alleged the FDMA had also stopped the provision of relief items and other cash to the dislocated TDPs families living in Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan and other areas, which they termed an unjust move.

They said the tribespeople faced displacement and rendered tremendous sacrifices for the motherland, adding they should be extended all-out support to ease their sufferings.The protesters said hundreds of families of tribespeople were still living in other parts of the country and could not return to native areas in North Waziristan.

They ciriticised the non-governmental organisations for what they argued receiving millions of funds in the name of TDPs but not spending the amount on rehabilitation of the displaced families.

The protesters complained about the alleged use of delaying tactics in carrying out the damage assessment survey. They called for resumption and early completion of the process to compensate the tribespeople for the damage they had suffered in the war against terrorism.The protesters demanded the government to take measures for return of the families which had shifted to Afghanistan after the launch of the offensive Zarb-e-Azb as well.