National Assembly body for concrete measures to tap Fata minerals

The National Assembly Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (Safron) Wednesday recommended concrete measures to tap the huge quantity of minerals in the tribal areas. The Committee also recommended establishment of industries at the site to provide jobs to the locals.
The committee, which met with Sajid Hussain Turi in the Chair here, observed that in some parts of Fata, particularly in Jamrud, uranium is available and urged for taking up the matter with the concerned quarters. The Committee recommended that huge marble and other minerals are available in Fata, therefore, value addition processing and local industries should be set up at the site creating job opportunities for the locals. It was also recommended to ban the movement of the raw materials from where they (minerals) are explored.
Officials of the Fata Development Authority (FDA) told the committee that huge quantity of copper was available in North Waziristan, with estimated reserves of more than that of Reko Diq, but the work on the project was suspended due to security situation.
The committee appreciated the exploration and development of copper in North Waziristan and recommended that work on the project should be expedited. It was recommended that adequate representation of Fata should be ensured in the FDA Board of Directors. With regard to development work in Fata, the committee asked the Safron and Ministry of Finance to provide more funds to FDA.
The committee observed that Rs 269.800 million has been utilised in three months, which is 88.6 percent of the total released funds. It was also recommended that Geological Survey of Pakistan be included for expert view on the developmental schemes in Fata.
Chief Executive of Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company Pervez Khan briefed the committee about the working of the company. The committee appreciated the progress in billing and collection of the company and noted that it was a general opinion that people of Fata do not pay electricity bills whereas the ground reality is that 43.98 percent of total billing is paid by the people.
With regard to agricultural production in Fata, the committee asked Safron to boost the agricultural production by increasing the budget allocation to facilitate the farmers. The panel expressed its concerns over the shortage of laboratories in the educational institutions of Fata and recommended that there should be at least 50 percent of IT and science laboratories in tribal areas to maintain the standard of education.
The committee directed Fata Secretariat to verify the number of students, teachers and furniture in all the education institutions and ensure physical availability of teachers and students in the educational institutions.
The committee further recommended that Fata Secretariat, Ministry of Safron, Federal Ministry of Education and Ministry of Law should thoroughly deliberate the situation emerged after the 18th Amendment with regard to educational institutions in Fata. The committee also decided that the matter would be discussed in its next meeting.