Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar on Thursday said the government strongly believed in honoring the sentiments of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) populace and would take them on board while making any administrative, political or judicial decisions to change the prevalent system of governance in tribal areas.
Talking to a jirga in Darra Adam Khel (Frontier Region Kohat), the governor denied any action taken regarding merger of frontier regions with their respective districts. “Being the chief executive, nothing like that has so far come to my notice,” he said. The matter, as reported in the press, was baseless and unfounded, he added.
He assured the jirga that the government would consider the opinions of the tribal people while taking such important decisions. He also discussed the announcement of FATA reforms and said sufficient work had been done before taking a final decision in this regard. These reforms were announced after consulting the people of FATA at all levels of the decision-making process and the final announcement was made after acquiring their consent to the amendments in the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
The jirga asked the governor to take notice of some problems specific to their area and take necessary actions. The issues brought forth by the jirga comprised gas and electricity supply to the area, education and health facilities and industrial development. Senator Abdul Raziq said the law and order in Frontier Region Kohat was moving towards normalcy and offered complete support to the governor to further strengthen the situation and maintain peace.
The governor said he would soon initiate the process of consultation with the tribal people on future course of action regarding recently made amendments to FCR and extension of Political Parties Ordinance (PPO) to FATA.
Locals had adequate political awareness and they would work together to make political activity in the region more democratic, he added. The governor, urging the elders in the area to take interest in the polio eradication efforts, said it was a national obligation to save our coming generation from this crippling disease.
