KP govt asked to improve education, health sectors in Bara

BARA: Elders of Shalobar tribe have asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to reconstruct education institutions and health centres in the tribal districts.

At a jirga in Qambarabad area on Monday, Shalobar elders including Member National Assembly (MNA) Iqbal Afridi, Malik Waris Afridi, Khalil Afridi, Muhammad Zubair Afridi, Asghar Khan Afridi and others alleged that the Fata merger into KP was meant to occupy the resources of tribal districts.

MNA Iqbal Afridi assured the Shalobar tribe that he had supported the people of the Shalobar and would raise their issues at the relevant platforms. He said the government should reconstruct the destroyed educational institutions and hospitals and promote tourism.

“At least 4,000 tribal people were working in the stone-crushing machines installed in Besay Baba Mountain, but all the locals lost jobs when the security forces launched operations against the militants in Bara,” Malik Waris Afridi said, adding that after restoration of peace, displaced people returned to native areas, but the stone-crushing units were yet to restart functioning.

“Instead of providing jobs to tribesmen, the government is rendering them jobless,” he said, adding the people needed jobs, not five-star hotels and parks atop the Besay Baba Mountain. It may be mentioned here that government officials visited Besay Baba Mountain last week and issued directives to set up a tourist spot there.