PESHAWAR, Aug 4: The second month of the new financial year has begun but development activities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas have yet to gather momentum due to lack of funds, according to officials.

Officials told Dawn on Saturday that the federal government had so far not released development funds for implementing Fata annual development programme, leaving hundreds of projects without money.

“The Fata annual development programme could not be prepared on time this year, too, so the releases from the federal government are also late,” said an official.

Officials said in several instances private contractors stopped project execution until they were released funds for further work in the new financial year.

The federal government has allocated a record Rs16 billion for Fata development activities during the financial year 2012-13.

Accordingly, the Fata Secretariat, Peshawar, has prepared an all-time high ADP for the tribal region.

A total of 1,280 development projects will get Rs14.66 billion of which Rs8.4 billion will be spent on 915 ongoing projects, Rs4.06 billion on new projects and Rs1.65 billion on five foreign-funded projects.

Besides, Rs1.34 billion will also be spent on development works planned and executed by Fata Development Authority.

However, the chance of the Fata project execution agencies using the ADP funding 100 per cent by the close of the current financial year appears to be little if one goes by their previous performance.

Against an annual ADP of Rs10 billion for the last fiscal, the Fata authorities could spend Rs6.5 billion only, raising questions about their ability to spend Rs16 billion ADP in the current financial year.

According to the new ADP, education sector allocation has been substantially increased as 28.03 per cent of the ADP funding will go to re-opening, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and upgradation of schools in Fata agencies and Frontier Regions.

Last year, the government allocated 21.98 per cent for the Fata education sector.

On the contrary, the Fata communication sector got the size of its share from ADP slashed down significantly as the government has allocated 23.82 per cent of the Fata ADP for this sector, down from 28.03 per cent allocated under the last financial year’s ADP.

Among the other sectors, health will get 11.16 per cent, public health engineering 7.22 per cent, irrigation 7.99 per cent and regional development 6.72 per cent.

Of an allocation of Rs874 million for regional development, a hefty amount of Rs224 million would be spent in line with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor’s instructions.

Out of the governor’s funds, an amount of Rs30 million would be spent on ‘projection of government’s interventions in Fata,’ while Rs50 million would be extended as a ‘special grant for development schemes in Tehsil Tol Khulla’ in fulfillment of the governor’s directives.

A cursory look at the ADP reveals that the actual size of the funding specified for the provincial governor’s directives is far greater than Rs224 million. A block allocation of Rs500 million has been made for development works to be carried out on governor’s directives in the financial year 2012-13. However, the impact of the allocation has been curtailed by allocating Rs144 million (out of Rs500 million) this year and the remaining would be provided in the next fiscal year.

The government plans to shift the Cadet College Razmak in North Waziristan to Adam Jee Paper Mill, Aman Ghar, Nowshera, due to insecurity in the restive agency. The planned shifting will consume a total of Rs10.5 million.

Of the Rs1.55 billion funding for power sector, Rs21 million will be spent on the ongoing project of establishing a 132KVA grid station at Dara Adamkhel in the Frontier Region, Kohat. The remaining amount has been divided into a host of other schemes of restoring power lines, village electrification, and rehabilitation of power infrastructure.

“Finally the funds thin out among so many ongoing initiatives that each one of them gets a paltry amount, delaying their completion,” said an official. Similarly, the government has planned to start 32 new projects in the health sector for which an amount of Rs346 m would be distributed among the seven Fata agencies and Frontier Regions.

Officials said the government has reduced the communication sector allocation significantly with a view to invest more in the education sector and livelihood sector, including forestry, fisheries, and sericulture that have got their ADP share increased as compared to the last financial year.