Restoration of PATA status for Malakand sought

MINGORA: Demanding restoration of provincial administrative tribal area (PATA) status for Malakand Division, the Swat Qaumi Jirga and notables hailing from various parts of the Swat district on Tuesday asked the provincial government to build Expressway Phase -II along the river bank.

The grand jirga was held at Wadudia Hall at Saidu Sharif, which was presided over by senior member Abdul Qahar Khan, and other notables including Haji Zahid Khan, Mukhtar Yousafzai, Khurshid Kaka G, Ahmad Shah, Muhammad Zeb, Zubair Torwali, Wakil Khan Kanju and others.

“The land settlement was completed in 1986, and the land record is secured with the Revenue Department. The limits of the river and orchards are registered in the revenue record. We appeal to the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to build the proposed Swat Expressway Phase -II on the bank of river Swat,” said Zahid Khan, a notable of the area.

He added that the orchards of peaches, apricots and apples, as well as the houses and properties of the locals would be destroyed if the project was implemented according to the proposed map.

“The proposed map of Swat Expressway will have adverse effects on the environment as more than 40,000 trees would be cut down. If the government builds it on the river bank, it will not only provide protection to the fields and orchards, but will also provide beautiful landscape to the locals and tourists,” said Abdul Wakil Khan.

He said they would not allow to build the project if the locals and owners of properties were not taken into confidence.

“Some groups and land mafia want to occupy the land of the locals particularly in the scenic valleys like Kalam, Malam Jabba, Gabin Jabba and adjacent areas. The local administration must take notice of it, and should stop sale and purchase in the scenic valleys for some reasonable time,” said Zubair Torwali, adding the government must provide facilities to the tourists for the promotion of tourism.

Under constitutional amendment-25, the special status of PATA was dissolved without taking the locals into confidence, which is unlawful and unconstitutional.

“The people of Malakand had never demanded it,” said Mukhtar Yousafzai, and demanded that the special status of Malakand region be restored again.

Ahmad Shah, the spokesman for Swat Qaumi Jirga, said that they were not against launching developmental projects like Expressway. “We want the government to take the local people into confidence while launching uplift projects in the area,” he added.