December 07, 2007	Friday	Ziqa'ad 26, 1428

PESHAWAR, Dec 6: The authorities have scrapped a billion-rupee project, initiated to convert Levies and Khasadar forces into fully fledged security outfits.

According to officials at the Civil Secretariat for Fata, the government suddenly shelved the project, which was supposed to be completed by 2009. No reason was cited for the decision.

Started in 2004, the project was one of the major components of a federal government-proposed reforms programme for the tribal region aimed at training and equipping 6,000 Levies and 16,000 Khasadar personnel. Traditionally, law and order in the tribal areas is maintained by the paramilitary Levies and Khasadar forces, which comprise local tribesmen.

Officials said the federal government had released a special grant of Rs1.2 billion for the project to train Levies and Khasadar personnel to enable them to assist political authorities in maintaining law and order, combating terrorism and controlling drug trafficking.

The federal Ministry of State and Frontier Region and Civil Secretariat for Fata had jointly pooled funds for the project. Over 40 retired military and paramilitary personnel had been recruited for imparting training to the tribal security personnel.

Under the project, the forces were to be equipped with modern weapons, communication tools and vehicles and barracks and checkposts were to be established in Fata. According to sources, 6000 AK-47 assault rifles had been procured for the purpose.

Initially, the project was to be completed by this year, but Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai had given two more years to the authorities to implement it, said officials.

“We had sufficient funds for implementing the project and training of Levies and Khasadar personnel was in progress, but the project was wound up,” they said.

Security secretary for Fata Arbab Mohammad Arif was not available for comments.

The officials said that under the project, 78 barracks and 74 posts had been set up for the Levies and Khasadar personnel in the seven tribal agencies and six Frontier Regions of Fata. The procurement of 100 vehicles was in the pipeline.

The Fata Civil Secretariat had allocated Rs61 million under the current Annual Development Programme for the checkposts.The government had also acquired 100 kanals of land at Shahkass in the Khyber Agency for setting up a permanent training centre for Khasadar and Levies forces.

The officials said winding up of the project was nothing less than putting the money into the drain because a handsome amount allocated for the project had already been utilised.