PESHAWAR, July 3: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Wednesday stressed the need for empowering the autonomous bodies to the maximum extent to enable them to speed up their work, which, he said, would help utilize the resources efficiently.

Presiding over a meeting held at the Governor’s House in Nathiagali to review the performance of the Frontier Highways Authority, he said execution of development projects and financial matters had to be dealt with by the respective authorities. He said that under the principles of devolution, only policy formulation, regulation and monitoring must rest with the provincial secretariat.

He said decentralization of powers had brought visible change in efficiency and transparency in the institutions.

The governor also said that the release of funds to the authority should be expedited to enable it to complete its tasks within the stipulated period. At the same time, he said, monitoring and evaluation in this connection should be more effective and transparent.

He said procedural complications in conducting the feasibility studies of the projects entrusted to the authority must be resolved.