PESHAWAR, Oct 25: The federal government has approved Rs1.5 billion for the reorganization of law enforcement agencies in the tribal areas, says NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah.

He said this on Saturday while speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the office-bearers of the Tribal Union of Journalists at a local hotel here.

Terming the reorganization of security agencies, holding of local government elections in the tribal areas as well as reforms in the judicial and revenue systems inter-related, he said that funds for restructuring Khasadar Force would be given in three equal instalments.

Reforms in security and judicial systems would be followed by the holding of local government elections in tribal areas, the governor said.

Mr Shah said that the government had completed work on the feasibility of 12 small water reservoirs in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, adding that the construction work would start soon.

The governor said that about 2,500 posts, lying vacant in different departments in tribal areas, were sanctioned soon after the establishment of Governor’s Fata Secretariat in 2002.

Blaming local journalists of fabricating stories especially when foreign correspondents swarmed the NWFP and tribal areas after the Sept 11 incident, Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah urged journalists to avoid tarnishing the country’s image.

Urging tribal journalists to perform their duties in a responsible manner, the NWFP governor said that at a time when the global media was portraying the country as a breeding ground for terrorism, they (local journalists) should avoid selling questionable stories for a few dollars.

Citing the blind pursuit of obsolete customs and traditions as impeding the progress of the people of the tribal areas, he said that they should surrender their weapons and eliminate illiteracy as this was the only way they could hope to compete in the fast changing world.