26 June 2004	Saturday	07 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

PESHAWAR, June 25: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah said on Friday that the Torkham complex project would benefit tribesmen socially and economically.

Talking to a delegation of elders of Shinwari tribe of Khyber Agency at Governor's House here, he said the project, on completion, would boost commercial activities in the area and generate employment. He said the project would have far-reaching effects on the socioeconomic situation of the area.

He vowed that the government would execute the project at every cost as it was in the best interest of the country and the area.

The governor said the affected landowners would be properly compensated and the mode of payment of compensation would be decided in accordance with the will of the tribesmen.

The governor said that under the master plan of the project, separate enclaves had been proposed for shops and commercial centres.

There should be no apprehension of any financial or commercial losses tothe local traders or shopkeepers, as they would be provided alternative places to carry on their business, the governor said and added that Torkham, being on a main international trade route, would become a hub of economic activities.

He said hotels, petrol pumps and new commercial markets would emerge, that would benefit the local tribesmen. He said the government did not want to harm local people. Those who suffered would be compensated, he said.

The governor said the tribesmen would have to relax certain traditions in line with the current requirements.

A time would come, sooner or later, when the area would need industrialization and tribesmen would have to lend their land for the purpose, he said.

Not selling ancestral property might be a good tradition, but when it came into conflict with national and collective tribal interests, the traditions had to be relaxed and amended, he remarked.

The tribal elders informed the governor of their viewpoint on the project.

The Governor's Secretary Sahibzada Saeed Ahmad, Khyber Agency Political Agent Arbab Mohammad Arif and Assistant Political Agent Abdul Basir were also present.