Senate body calls for expediting work in KP merged districts

ISLAMABAD, Jun 12 (APP):Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Wednesday called for expediting development work in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to pave way for prosperity of tribesmen.

While chairing the meeting here at Parliament House, Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi said the parliamentarians belonging to the tribal areas should be taken on board for resolving the issues of the area at the earliest.

He said the government should fulfill its promises made with the people of FATA before its merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The government announced tax exemptions on electricity and imports but the matter was still pending with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), causing problems for the local businessmen.

Senator Aurangzeb Khan Orakzai asked the committee members to visit the border areas to become familiar with the situation on the ground.

Senator Shamim Afridi said there was a dire need to retrieve the encroached land of educational institutes and health care centres in erstwhile FATA, so that people could benefit from it.

Minister for SAFRON Shehryar Afridi said the incumbent government was well aware of the issues being faced by the people of FATA and every possible effort was being made to improve the situation.