ANP leader asks Centre to rebuild houses, infrastructure in tribal districts

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Sardar Hussain Babak on Friday asked the federal government to announce construction of houses, markets and other infrastructure in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's tribal districts that were destroyed as a result of terrorism and military operations. Through a statement issued here, ANP parliamentary leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sardar Hussain Babak said that houses and business centres had been destroyed in the erstwhile tribal areas due to terrorism and military operations. He said that residents of the seven districts had suffered huge losses and the government had not taken any concrete steps for their rehabilitation.

The PTI government had also not announced any such package for reconstruction in these districts, he added. Babak said that the PTI government should have taken the initiative for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the infrastructure in the tribal districts.

Delay in reconstruction had forced thousands of displaced families to live in a miserable condition in other parts of the country, the ANP leader said. He asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to announce damage assessment survey in the militancy-affected areas and ensure proper compensation to the tribespeople. Sardar Hussain Babak condemned the expansion of the tax net to Malakand division, saying that levying taxes without rehabilitating these districts was unjust. He demanded extension in the tax exemption scheme for Malakand division.