PESHAWAR, Oct 3: The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has set up a high-powered committee to decide the fate of Fata Development Authority (FDA) - whether to retain it or abolish it.
A notification issued over the weekend said the additional chief secretary of the province will head the six-member committee that will review the affairs of the FDA established in 2006 for social and economic development of the frontier region in the wake of the post-9/11 conflict in Afghanistan. A brainchild of the then governor Lt-Gen (retired) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai, the FDA was designed to replace the outdated development system in the most backward and volatile region with a specialized, fast track uplift organisation having a participatory approach.
The main goals of the authority were to plan and execute sustainable development projects in industrial, minerals, irrigation, small dams, skill development, township development and tourism sectors in the region.
Well placed sources told Dawn that some officers in Peshawar and Islamabad had made up their mind to dissolve the authority.
“This is all being done on the basis of personal likes and dislikes,” said an official, adding it reflected inefficiency and lack of coordination between the secretariat and FDA.
The viability of the authority should have been determined before its creation, instead of reversing the plan, said the official. Senior officials of the civil secretariat were not available for comments.
Sources said that government had spent huge amount to make the authority operational during the last three years.
A permanent headquarters for FDA is being constructed in Hayatabad, Peshawar at a cost of Rs100 million while the authority has received Rs1452 million for the annual development programme for the year 2010-11.
Sources said that the committee would examine reasons for the dissolution of Fata Development Corporation and subsequent creation of FDA for identical reasons.
The defunct corporation, set up by federal government in mid-1970s, was dissolved in March 2002. More than 900 employees of the corporation were either given golden handshake or put in surplus pool.
After dissolution of the corporation the civil secretariat was established to look after all matters in the tribal areas including economic development through its line departments.
Later on the secretariat gave birth to FDA in 2006 when foreign donor agencies in the wake of war against terrorism started donating funds for the so-called development schemes in Fata.
According to the term of reference, the committee will analyse functions of the authority and will conduct comparative study of allocation over the past three years for FDA and secretariat for current and development expenditure and assess if the ratio of the development to current is the same.
The high level committee would also study the organisational setup of FDA including its field offices, salary structure of its employees; evaluate its comparative achievements and civil secretariat on development side with emphasis on completion of various projects.
Sources said that after examination and analysis the committee would either recommend dissolving the authority and transferring its functions to the secretariat or streamlining its functions to make it more viable.
If the committee opposed its dissolution then the entire development work might be transferred to FDA and functions of the secretariat would be restricted only to the maintenance of the completed work.