ISLAMABAD: As many as 86 villages of South Waziristan Agency has been provided electricity through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), while roads and bridges were also constructed under FATA Infrastructure Project 2010-18.
USAID to Pakistan Mission Director Jhon Groarke said this while talking to APP about developmental projects in various agencies of FATA. Responding to a question, the Mission Director said that USAID was working on FATA Infrastructure Project (2010-2018) with the FATA Secretariat to build, rehabilitate, and reconstruct roads that connect remote communities to markets.
A number of other social services to restore electricity infrastructure, and improve access to water for human consumption and agricultural irrigation were also being executed in various parts of FATA with the funding support of USAID, the Mission Director said.
Giving details about projects in South Waziristan he said that to date, the program had completed 548 kilometres of roads, including 27 bridges, in the FATA and had provided power to 68 villages of South Waziristan Agency.
Pointing out various challenges in the area, he said FATA faces a variety of challenges, including a low literacy rate, high child mortality rate, and low per-capita income. He also said that a Multi Donor Trust Fund (2010-2020) had already been established with the financial support of the USAID and other international donors administered by the World Bank for executing reconstruction and rehabilitation of FATA.
Under this multilateral fund a reform agenda to build peace and create conditions for sustainable development in FATA in the aftermath of the 2009 insurgency crisis and 2010 floods was initiated, the Mission Director said.
Responding to another question about FATA Institutional Strengthening Project (2011-2016), he said USAID in collaboration with the FATA Secretariat and the FATA Development Authority helped in building the capacity of these institutions to deliver essential public services, such as health and education, to FATA residents.
The project also provided training, technical assistance, and equipment to establish sustainable management systems and practices, bridge critical human resource gaps, and enhance the skills of institutional staff, he added.
Regarding economic growth, the Mission Director said that a number of projects funded by the USAID had been launched for improving economic growth, agriculture system and quality of education.
For the improvement of quality education in FATA, he said that a Merit and Needs Based Scholarships programme -2004-2016 was launched and USAID offered scholarships and stipends to talented students to study subjects such as agriculture and business administration.
Under this programme, 66 students from FATA were provided scholarships who were studying in various institutions of KPK. Including Agricultural University and the Institute of Management Sciences in Peshawar.
A special programme for providing training to teachers of FATA namely Pakistan Reading Project (2013-2018 was also launched by the USAID to improve children’s reading skills and to build teachers capacities.
“The project aims to train thousands of teachers, improve regional teacher training institutes, provide scholarships, develop libraries, and provide small grants for educational development across FATA”, he mentioned.
