CHITRAL: Residents of the border village of Arsoon in Lower Chitral have demanded of the government and the Peshawar Corps commander to ensure issuance of no-objection certificates to the leaseholders to carry out mineral exploration as it will generate employment opportunities, promising poverty alleviation in the area.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Maulana Samiullah, Mohammad Ghafoor, Abdus Samad, Khan Zareen and others said that they had pinned great hopes on the commencement of the mining activities in the area as the leaseholders had entered into an agreement with them for economic benefits and development projects.

They said that their area was highly marginalised due to its geographical positioning as there was no proper road connecting it with the main artery.

They said that the area was devoid of basic facilities of life like roads, health centres, schools and drinking water, while the residents were mired in abject poverty as they had no sustainable source of income except very small landholdings.

The elders said the leaseholders were to provide a school, a dispensary and an ambulance as well as drinking water and link roads as per the agreement.

They insisted that the mining activity would not pose any threat to the security situation in the area.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2024