May 30, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 2, 1427

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PESHAWAR, May 29: The Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control has expressed concern over increase of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan from where drugs are smuggled to other parts of the region.

The committee, which met at the regional directorate of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) here on Monday, also considered extending the scope of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) to cover the cultivation of poppy and trade of drugs in the tribal region, an official statement said.

Senator Ms Kulsoom Parveen chaired the meeting which was also attended by Senators Nisar Memon, Abdur Rahim Mandokhel, Abdur Razziq, Rehmatullah Kakar, Maulana Gul Naseeb and high-ranking officers of federal and provincial governments.

The senators jointly voiced concern over large-scale cultivation of narcotic crops in Afghanistan and increasing drug trade in the region.

Citing a January 2006 report of the United Nations, which ranks Afghanistan as a leading exporter of drugs, the senators expressed their concern on spill-over effects of poppy cultivation and drugs production in Afghanistan.

Mr Nisar Memon said that the committee would do its best to formulate a comprehensive legislation for strengthening the ANF operations.

Maulana Gul Naseeb highlighted the problems of those poppy growers who were promised alternative employment but were still waiting fulfilment of the promise. This, he opined, created unrest among them and encouraged narcotics smuggling.

Rehmatullah Kakar advocated an enhanced role for the coast-guards in curbing of narcotics trade and asked for an immediate improvement in their performance. Overlapping jurisdiction of various narcotics control agencies also came under scrutiny.

Ms Kulsoom Parveen assured full cooperation and support of the committee to the ANF.

Earlier, ANF Commander Brig Najmul Hassan Jameel, while briefing the senators about the performance and achievements of the ANF, said that there had been a 45 per cent reduction in poppy cultivation this year.

The senators were also briefed about a special development unit (SDU) of the provincial government which was designing, monitoring and facilitating different development schemes in the poppy cultivation areas with the assistance of foreign donors and NGOs.

The committee was informed that poppy cultivation in frontier province was reduced from 8000 acres to 4000 acres after the government understood and addressed the socio-economic problems of the people.

Senator Abdur Rahim Mandokhel opined that the government should involve NGOs in implementation of developmental projects.

Maulana Gul Naseeb expressed the hope that after developmental work along river from Malakand agency to Kalam the area would get economic boost and poppy growers would be encouraged to adopt other means of living.