LANDI KOTAL: The government was making efforts to open the tribal districts for tourists as the areas have great potential of tourism, said Provincial Minister for Sports, Culture and Tourism Atif Khan.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the first ever week-long sports festival arranged for about 2,800 players of the tribal district at Jamrud Sports Complex here on Thursday.

The event has been jointly organised by the provincial directorate of sports and administration of Khyber tribal district.

Atif Khan, who was chief guest on the occasion, said that both federal and provincial governments were keen to develop the newly merged tribal districts along with making efforts to open the region for tourists as it had great potential for attracting both local and foreign tourists.

He said that six sports stadiums would be built in six different tribal districts once the required land was available with the provincial government. He also announced installation of floodlights and construction of shades over the spectators pavilion at Jamrud Sports Complex.

Junaid Khan, the director general sports, said on the occasion that 13 teams comprising 2,800 athletes would compete in 32 different games at different playgrounds in Khyber, Mohmand, Orakzai, Kurram, North and South Waziristan and Kohat.

He said that separate arrangements were made for girl players in Khyber and Mohmand where they would compete in badminton, table tennis, volleyball, tug-of-war and athletics.

The tribal players presented march past in the opening ceremony and later danced to drumbeats. Khattak, Chitral and Mehsud dances were also presented while famous Pashtu singer Bakhtiar Khattak sang a nationalist song, which was widely applauded by the players and spectators.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2019