PESHAWAR, May 8: NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman announced on Monday that the government would soon launch several large public welfare projects, including a marble and talcum factory, in the Kurram Agency.

“These projects will be a landmark achievement for employment generation and poverty alleviation,” Governor Rehman told a 10-member delegation of notables of the agency, at the Governor’s House here. The delegation was led by Dr Syed Riaz Hussain Shah.

He lauded the efforts made by the agency’s tribesmen to promote peace and harmony and expressed the hope that the situation would accelerate the process of development in the area.

Arbab Mohammad Arif, secretary to the governor, and aditional secretary for Fata security Sikandar Qayum were also present on the occasion. “In the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, wherever there is peace there will be development and Kurram agency will be the best example in this regard,” he said.

The governor responded positively to the demands of the delegation and said that shortage of staff in different public welfare institutions would be removed through contractual arrangements once the federal government’s approval for the new vacancies was obtained.

He also issued a directive for filling up vacant posts of specialist doctors in the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Parachinar. In response to a public demand, he said that establishment of a medical college was under consideration in Parachinar and assured that the project would not be shifted to any other place.

The governor said that he had already talked to the respective banks for opening separate counters for pensioners and said that the matter would be further pursued.

The governor said the provision of clean drinking water to the people of Fata was one of the government’s priorities and the tribesmen would equally benefit from the prime minister’s plan in this regard.

He said that establishment of small dams in Fata was a continuous process and the government was also considering installation of small hydel power generators to meet the requirements of cheep electricity at local level.

Earlier, members of the delegation informed the governor that there was complete sectarian harmony in the agency and vowed that it would be maintained. They also highlighted some of the problems and development requirements. —Online