BUNER, Oct 5: Shahzada Khan, Nazim of union council Koga- Chamla, has said the inhabitants of his constituency are under heavy burden of more than 30,000 Afghan refugees since 1982 without compensation besides. He said the people were facing numerous difficulties due to lack of essential amenities and demanded of the government to start developmental works there on priority basis.

Talking to newsmen at Daggar on Friday, he explained that an Afghan refuges camp at Koga has covered cultivable land more than 3,000 kanals without any compensation from the government.

He complained that an amount rupees 75 only were fixed per kanal as compensation in 1982 and the major compensation was paid for five years from 1982 to 1986. He said the locals were making the demand of winding the camp in case compensation was not paid at the rate of rupees 2,500 per kanal per year right from 1987. He claimed that the genuine demand of the local people s had conveyed to the federal minister Omar Asghar Khan in Islamabad on Thursday.

Enumerating the problems being faced by the local people, he said people were without potable water, roads, electricity and educational institutions both for boys and girls. He was of the view that whole the district of Buner could be turned into an industrial complex if the mineral resources were properly explored.