‘Friends of Pakistan to provide funds for rehabilitation in Swat’

[LahoreEstate]

Sunday, February 08, 2009
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti said on Saturday that internal and external Friends of Pakistan would provide funds for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the people affected by the operation in Swat.

The arrangements to this effect has been finalised by President Asif Ali Zardari with the Friends of Pakistan, Hoti said this while talking to local reporters after performing the ground breaking ceremony of Khan Abdul Wali Khan Multiplex at the Civil Secretariat.

The chief minister also named the Poverty Reduction Program in the province after Baacha Khan besides starting uplift projects named after Baacha Khan and Khan Abdul Wali Khan in all districts of the province.

He said that the president was briefed in detail about the internal security situation during his two-day visit to the city and told about the requirements of the Fata and the province with focus on beefing up the law enforcing agencies, poverty reduction plans and relief activities.

Hoti said the president was also told about the mega power project in hydel sector in the province. He said: “The president promised to give No Limit Package to the province as we are fighting a war for survival.”

He recalled that Baacha Khan had dubbed the Afghan war against Russia as “Fasad” instead of Jihad as it paved the way for destruction of the Pukhtoons, which was still continuing.

He reiterated that political and administration reforms in tribal regions were necessary so that common tribesman could be brought in the mainstream of national development. “We want their representation in the provincial assembly of the NWFP” he maintained.

The chief minister feared spill over of the fire to the rest of the country. “It is our collective duty to extinguish it here.”

Hoti said: “The previous government had closed its eyes over the fire in Swat, which has today reached Peshawar. But we cannot sit silent over the matter and we have taken some bitter decisions to stop this fire. We inked a peace pact with the Swat Taliban by following the philosophy of non-violence of Baacha Khan and not at the behest of the US.”

The use of force had become necessary there as they were continuously burning schools in Swat, he said.

Earlier, Col Ghulam Husain briefed the chief minister about salient features of the Khan Abdul Wali Khan Multiplex project.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=161378