LAKKI MARWAT: The residents of Wanda Jogi area on Saturday ended their protest sit-in staged outside a cement factory in Darra Pezu town of Lakki Marwat after successful talks between a government team and their leaders.

District police officer Mohammad Ashfaq Khan announced on Saturday night the government team had been in contact with elders and protest leaders for last two days, and finally the talks proved result-oriented with the help of the factory management.

He said the factory’s management agreed to recruit locals in the unit and also launch public welfare projects in the area.

It is important to mention here that the police had arrested over two dozen villagers when they launched agitation against the factory and stopped supply of raw material to it from a mountain till acceptance of their demands.

Following the arrests, the protesters attacked the police station in Pezu city and got freed the villagers, mostly youths. Afterwards, they reached the factory and damaged the property. The protesters alleged the factory was using their resources to earn billions of rupees annually, but didn’t think about welfare of locals.

The factory’s deputy general manager was repeatedly approached for comments but he did not receive calls.

Meanwhile, the cement factory on Saturday said it had established a modern school in Darra Pezu town in collaboration with the Citizen Foundation.

A spokesman of the company said admissions for the first batch of 2023 were underway and the school was in line with the United Nations Sustainable Goal related to quality education.

He said the project was a significant step towards providing quality primary and secondary education to children of the district to help enhance education standards in rural areas of Lakki.

He said the cement company had also successfully inducted the third batch of students for a vocational training programme.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2023