PESHAWAR: The people of five tribal agencies in Fata affected by militancy since 2007 continue to suffer though military operations were conducted to bring peace in their hometowns. Now, it is not militancy as much as it is the apathy of the federal government that is making their lives miserable.

The Fata Secretariat has received only Rs3 billion out of total allocated amount of Rs45 billion for the financial year 2016-17 for rehabilitation of displaced families and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure including health and education.

Officials said the reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in all sectors including health, education, drinking water and compensation of damaged houses had come to standstill due to delay in release of funds by the federal authorities.

The federal government had allocated Rs80 billion in the Public Sector Development Programme for fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17 for reconstruction and rehabilitation in five areas including North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram.

The Finance Division had released Rs35 billion to Fata Secretariat in 2015-16 that was disbursed through the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Unit, while the remaining Rs45 billion is to release in four quarters during the current financial year.

Delay in funds’ release halts reconstruction, rehabilitation in Fata

The sector-wise allocation is Rs12 billion for transportation and cash assistance to displaced persons on returning to their homes, Rs30 billion for permanent reconstruction, Rs33 billion for compensation of damaged houses and Rs5 billion for immediate rehabilitation work.

One senior functionary told Dawn that finance division had released Rs3 billion during the last two quarters against total allocation of Rs45 billion.

He said Rs16 billion had been set aside for Citizen Losses Compensation Programme which was supposed to be released to the RRU to pay compensation to tribal people whom houses were damaged in military operations.

“The Finance Division has released only Rs3 billion to be paid to people for their damaged residential properties,” said the official, adding that the relevant quarters in Peshawar have been corresponding with the finance ministry seeking release of funds, but it always gives them the cold shoulder.

“The overall situation in North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Khyber agencies is satisfactory because of army intervention though it is now going at slow pace, but progress in Orakzai and Kurram is nil,” he said.

“The IDPs have returned to Orakzai but the RRU is unable to start rehabilitation and reconstruction works so far because of delay in funds by the finance division,” he said. IDPs who had returned to their homes are coming back to settled parts of the country owing to lack of basic facilities in their homelands.

The Pakistan Army is carrying out reconstruction and rehabilitation work in North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Khyber agencies, while the relevant departments of Fata Secretariat are looking after activities in Orakzai and Kurram agencies.

The government has fixed Rs400,000 for fully damaged house and Rs160,000 for partially damaged house in these five tribal agencies. CLCP is considered an important component of the Fata Sustainable Return and Rehabilitation Strategy.

Officials claimed that 95 per cent of the total internally displaced persons had return to their homes and the remaining dislocated population would be repatriated to their area by the end of June next.

Officials have completed a survey of 70,000 damaged houses in five tribal agencies against the target of 105,000 damaged residential quarters.

Under the CLCP, 34,000 owners had received cash compensation.

They said 50,798 damaged houses of the total 70,000 surveyed houses had been verified as fully or partially damaged. Currently cases of 16,000 housing units had been processed to get compensation, but disbursement has been stalled because of shortage of funds.

Like militancy stricken tribal people in Fata financial crunch had also affected employees of Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Unit (RRU) which was created to oversee activities in targeted areas due to nonpayment of salaries.

Only six employees are currently working in the RRU set up in a rented house in Peshawar. Sources said staff of the RRU was slashed from 45 to six when the United Nations Development Fund discontinued financial support.

It is learnt that the little staff of the unit had not been receiving salaries for the last four months.

“The UNDP fully supported the RRU for two years and the UN agency intervention can rejuvenate activities in Fata,” an affected employee said adding that the foreign donors were releasing funds to RRU through the UNDP.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Food Programme and other partners of the UN had financial and materially assisted return process of IDPs and rehabilitation in their native areas.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2018