BARA: President of the Bara Traders Association, Syed Ayaz Wazir, has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and relevant authorities not to remove approved development projects for Khyber district, particularly Bara tehsil, from the Annual Development Programme (ADP).

In a statement, Wazir said cancelling the approved schemes would amount to injustice and discriminatory treatment of people in the war-affected tribal district, which has suffered from prolonged insecurity and conflict over the past two decades.

He said Bara had received little development attention during the former FATA administration, while only a limited number of projects had been approved following the merger of tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These projects, he added, were already insufficient to meet the area's development needs.

Wazir said that if irregularities or technical errors were found in the approval process, tendering or other procedures, the authorities should conduct a transparent investigation, rectify the shortcomings and initiate fresh tendering where necessary. However, he stressed that the projects should not be removed from the ADP under any circumstances.

He also questioned the timing of the decision, saying that development projects approved during the tenure of a chief minister from Khyber district were being cancelled just days after his departure. He claimed that no formal committee had been constituted, nor had officials visited the proposed sites to assess the projects.

Highlighting the condition of the area, Wazir said infrastructure in Bara and Tirah Valley had been severely damaged by years of unrest, leaving the region in need of extensive reconstruction and development.

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He added that the Afridi tribes of Tirah Valley were still living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), making the cancellation of development schemes for their area particularly distressing.

The traders' association president called on the prime minister, provincial governor, relevant departments and the governor's representative to ensure a transparent review of the approved schemes, correct any procedural shortcomings and complete the tendering process without scrapping the projects.

He said tribal communities had made immense sacrifices for the country and endured years of conflict, adding that denying them their rightful share of development would amount to discriminatory treatment.

Wazir also urged the people of the tribal district to unite and raise their voices for their rights and the protection of approved development projects.