PESHAWAR: The Task Force on Appraisal of Governance, Development and Security in South Waziristan tribal district was informed on Friday that the fencing of 739.6 kilometers out of the total of 836.1 kilometers of the Pak-Afghan border had been completed.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, who chaired the task force’s meeting here, directed the authorities concerned to strictly follow timelines set for the completion of development projects in South Waziristan tribal district, said an official statement.

Officials told the meeting that major work of the border fencing in tribal districts had been completed.

The Pakistan Army had begun fencing the country’s border with Afghanistan in 2017 with the end of 2020 set as its deadline.

CM asks authorities to meet deadlines for S. Waziristan projects

The officials also told the task force that under the Citizens Losses Compensation Programme, more than 40,000 cheques had been disbursed to the affected families and around 36,000 cheques would be given away to the families in South Waziristan tribal district.

They said the government paid Rs400,000 for a destroyed house and Rs160,000 for a damaged house in the militancy-affected areas of the merged tribal districts.

The officials said the families, whose houses were damaged during military operations against militants, were being compensated.

The chief minister ordered the preparation of a detailed plan for the development of education, health and public health engineering sectors in South Waziristan. He also said disbursements under the Citizens Losses Compensation Programme should be made on a fast-track basis.

Mr Mahmood asked the relevant authorities to come up with setup for the newly-established tehsils of South Waziristan tribal district as an interim solution to the administrative issues.

He formed a committee comprising commissioner and other relevant authorities to make final recommendations on the district headquarters issue in consultation with local tribes.

The officials told the meeting that the provincial development working party had approved an umbrella scheme of Rs1.01 billion for putting up buildings of police stations, checkpoints, Special Branch and counter-terrorism department in South Waziristan district. They also said a plan had been developed to train 4,000 police personnel, while the training of 900 Levies and Khasadar personnel was in process.

The officials said South Waziristan district had potential for the development of tourism, mines and minerals, progressive farming, water resources, livestock, and trade with Afghanistan.

The chief minister said there was a need for according a special focus on the development of tourism and mines and minerals to provide livelihood opportunities to the residents of South Waziristan.

He directed the tourism secretary and other relevant officials to visit the tribal district and give proposals for tourism promotion.

Mr Mahmood also ordered the inclusion of the construction of access roads to tourist sites of South Waziristan in the government’s tourism promotion plan for the province.

He said a feasible model should be prepared for the development of an agricultural park in Wana area of South Waziristan tribal district.

The officials said under the 45 Engineering Division, 33 education, health, water and road projects had been completed, while work on five in road and health sectors was in progress.

The additional chief secretary said Rs49.2 billion was allocated for South Waziristan tribal district under the developmental strategy of the newly-merged tribal districts and a major portion of it had been spent.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2020