Despite threats, KP still main beneficiary of US dollars
ISLAMABAD: Political rhetoric and threats to block Nato supplies through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) apart, the USAID (US Agency for International Development) is completing a number of development projects worth over $500 million in the KP. This number is more than USAID has sponsored anywhere in Pakistan, credible figures show.
On Monday, the KP Assembly passed a unanimous resolution calling for blockade of Nato supplies in the province to protest the November 1 killing of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud when a delegation of mutually acceptable religious leaders was to hold preliminary peace talks with the militants’ representatives. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has threatened to stop the Nato supplies on November 20 if the Nawaz Sharif government did not succeed in getting drone attacks halted by then.
However, neither the provincial assembly nor the PTI chief has talked about scrapping of the USAID funded projects in the KP, which are being executed with the cooperation and involvement of the provincial government.
While the KP and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) are the focus of such spending for obvious reasons, the Punjab government has been tactfully but politely averting the launch of USAID funded schemes in its province, an informed official told The News.
Some of the projects in the KP were started in 2007 while others in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. They have varying periods of three to four, five and eight years for completion. The funding is part of the allocations under the Kerry-Lugar Bill, which was once seen as a sell-out by the previous federal government.
Some of the following projects are national programmes while others are confined to the KP alone. These include Pakistan Transition Initiative $102m; KP Reconstruction Programme $82m; Conflict Victims Support Programme $2.5m; Entrepreneur $1.8m; Firms 5.25m; Gomal Zam Irrigation Project $80m; Agriculture Policy Project $10m; Agribusiness Project $45m; Agricultural Innovation Project $30m; Power Distribution Programme $170m; Merits and Needs Based Scholarships $7m; Teacher Education Project $37m; The Deliver Project $100m; Fata-KP Health Programme $26m; Civil Society Support Programme $25m; Assessment & Strengthening Programme $19.5m; Water & Sanitation Programme $15m; and Municipal Services Programme $87.46m.
All these projects amount to $868m. Of this funding, more than $500m are being spent in the KP.The Pakistan Transition Initiative (2007-2015) is aimed at strengthening relations between government bodies and Fata communities through short-term, quick-impact projects. It engages villagers with the local authorities to identify and realise small-scale projects, such as paving streets and improving drinking water supply systems. It also enhances income generation opportunities through activities such as agricultural training for farmers and home-based skills training for women.
Under the Conflict Victims Support Programme, in-kind assistance is provided in the form of short-term relief, small business support and vocational training to civilian victims of the ongoing conflict in the Fata. The project improves the capacity of health facilities to respond to trauma victims.
The Agribusiness Project is intended to increase incomes and create additional employment opportunities in agriculture by introducing innovative technologies and building the capacity of farmers and processors in the Fata to improve production of various crops particularly higher value fruit and vegetable crops.
It is stated that the Fata is inhabited by 3.17 million people belonging to various Pashtun tribes. It is the most underprivileged and underdeveloped part of Pakistan with the lowest literacy rate, (17.4% overall/3% of women), the highest rate of child morality under 5 years old (135 deaths per 1,000 live births) and the lowest per capita income ($250 per year). Exacerbating these development challenges is the conflict and violent opposition to the state authority that the area has endured for more than a decade in the post 9/11 episode.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-212708-Despite-threats-KP-still-main-beneficiary-of-US-dollars
ISLAMABAD: Political rhetoric and threats to block Nato supplies through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) apart, the USAID (US Agency for International Development) is completing a number of development projects worth over $500 million in the KP. This number is more than USAID has sponsored anywhere in Pakistan, credible figures show.
On Monday, the KP Assembly passed a unanimous resolution calling for blockade of Nato supplies in the province to protest the November 1 killing of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud when a delegation of mutually acceptable religious leaders was to hold preliminary peace talks with the militants’ representatives. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has threatened to stop the Nato supplies on November 20 if the Nawaz Sharif government did not succeed in getting drone attacks halted by then.
However, neither the provincial assembly nor the PTI chief has talked about scrapping of the USAID funded projects in the KP, which are being executed with the cooperation and involvement of the provincial government.
While the KP and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) are the focus of such spending for obvious reasons, the Punjab government has been tactfully but politely averting the launch of USAID funded schemes in its province, an informed official told The News.
Some of the projects in the KP were started in 2007 while others in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. They have varying periods of three to four, five and eight years for completion. The funding is part of the allocations under the Kerry-Lugar Bill, which was once seen as a sell-out by the previous federal government.
Some of the following projects are national programmes while others are confined to the KP alone. These include Pakistan Transition Initiative $102m; KP Reconstruction Programme $82m; Conflict Victims Support Programme $2.5m; Entrepreneur $1.8m; Firms 5.25m; Gomal Zam Irrigation Project $80m; Agriculture Policy Project $10m; Agribusiness Project $45m; Agricultural Innovation Project $30m; Power Distribution Programme $170m; Merits and Needs Based Scholarships $7m; Teacher Education Project $37m; The Deliver Project $100m; Fata-KP Health Programme $26m; Civil Society Support Programme $25m; Assessment & Strengthening Programme $19.5m; Water & Sanitation Programme $15m; and Municipal Services Programme $87.46m.
All these projects amount to $868m. Of this funding, more than $500m are being spent in the KP.The Pakistan Transition Initiative (2007-2015) is aimed at strengthening relations between government bodies and Fata communities through short-term, quick-impact projects. It engages villagers with the local authorities to identify and realise small-scale projects, such as paving streets and improving drinking water supply systems. It also enhances income generation opportunities through activities such as agricultural training for farmers and home-based skills training for women.
Under the Conflict Victims Support Programme, in-kind assistance is provided in the form of short-term relief, small business support and vocational training to civilian victims of the ongoing conflict in the Fata. The project improves the capacity of health facilities to respond to trauma victims.
The Agribusiness Project is intended to increase incomes and create additional employment opportunities in agriculture by introducing innovative technologies and building the capacity of farmers and processors in the Fata to improve production of various crops particularly higher value fruit and vegetable crops.
It is stated that the Fata is inhabited by 3.17 million people belonging to various Pashtun tribes. It is the most underprivileged and underdeveloped part of Pakistan with the lowest literacy rate, (17.4% overall/3% of women), the highest rate of child morality under 5 years old (135 deaths per 1,000 live births) and the lowest per capita income ($250 per year). Exacerbating these development challenges is the conflict and violent opposition to the state authority that the area has endured for more than a decade in the post 9/11 episode.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-212708-Despite-threats-KP-still-main-beneficiary-of-US-dollars