Storikhels rejoice as bridge in Khyber ends isolation

BARA: The Storikhels in Khyber tribal district rejoiced as a bridge was inaugurated on Friday to connect the hitherto isolated part of Bara tehsil.

Member National Assembly (MNA) Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, Khyber district Deputy Commission Mehmood Aslam Wazir, representatives of local formation, officials of Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP), and hundreds of community elders attended the inauguration ceremony.

Built by the SRSP under the German government-funded “Reintegration and Rehabilitation of Temporarily Displaced Persons in Fata (RRP-TDP)” project at a cost of Rs8.9 million, the bridge would benefit over 3,000 households in Khyber and Orakzai districts. The bridge would facilitate the movement of the local people and ensure access to services and consumer goods on a daily basis.

“This is for the first time the children, and women will cross the river without any fear. Now we would not have to wait for the high tide to recede during the rains. Patients, elders, women and kids used to wait on either side of the river in the hope to get to the other side. There have been instances when a funeral prayer and the burial of a deceased got delayed due to high tide,” said Malik Shahmirkhel Afridi, a local community elder.

Speaking on the occasion, MNA Muhammad Iqbal Afridi thanked the SRSP for undertaking the project. He said the SRSP had paved the way for the anticipated local government system and it would ensure the utilisation of funds locally.

Khyber Deputy Commissioner Mehmood Aslam Wazir also thanked the German government for funding the bridge construction.

He praised the SRSP’s for promoting the participatory approach of development in the newly merged districts.

The official lauded the organized behaviour of the community members and credited the SRSP with the change.

Earlier, Syed Aftab Ahmad, SRSP Manager Operations, said the organisation was working in tribal districts in collaboration with the community, security forces and administration.

In Khyber district alone, he said, the SRSP had constituted 115 community-based organisations, rehabilitated 87 schools, established 73 community infrastructure schemes and trained 990 community members in different livelihood skills.

“The suspension bridge is one of the 240 infrastructure schemes that will be completed by the SRSP in erstwhile Fata,” he added.

He acknowledged the support extended by the community, district administration and local formation in sustaining peace to undertake the project.