KOHAT, July 14: A 50-year-old dispute over the ownership of coalmines in Darra Adam Khel among clans of Akhurwal tribe has been settled and work on the mines will resume soon, officials told Dawn on Thursday.

Coal reserves found in Akhurwal area in the Kohat Frontier Region in the early 1950s have remained unutilised due to tribal rifts and government’s lack of interest.

Three clans of the tribe awarded a mining contract to a company in 2003 but two others forcibly stopped work six months later. They demanded royalty on parity basis, but an alliance of the three clans refused to accept their demand saying they were not original settlers on the land.

District Coordination Officer Arshad Majeed Momand said the dispute had been referred to him three months back.

He asked all clans to give an undertaking that they would accept his decision in the interest of the area.

On Wednesday, he summoned a jirga of the Akhurwal tribe at the tehsil office and announced his decision which was accepted and an agreement was signed by the parties on Thursday.

“All the disputes like the royalty issue and demarcation of the land to be excavated by the mining company have been resolved peacefully and work on the mines will resume soon,” Mr Momand who also holds the charge of political agent of the frontier region, said.