Pentagon may play role in FATA development

A USAID document has revealed that the Pentagon could play a pivotal role in the development programmes earmarked for Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Islamabad, Sep 18 : A USAID document has revealed that the Pentagon could play a pivotal role in the development programmes earmarked for Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas' (FATA).

"A USAID document reveals that the Washington's committed 750 million dollars aid to Pakistan for the 2.3 billion dollars FATA Sustainable Development Plan (FSDP) is coming with attached conditionality, as US wants to set its own order as to how and where the money should be spent," The News reported.

"The USAID and the US Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) will be the principal USG (US Govt) agencies dealing with development programmes. This joint programme will be closely coordinated with the US Department of Defence," says the document.

The document suggests that the civilian and military authorities in Pakistan will be assisted by Washington in developing strategies for each of the seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions.

"Addressing economic and social conditions is critical to address the impact of extremist groups using Pakistan as a base for military and destabilising actions in both Pakistan and Afghanistan," the document says.

The document further said that improving the authority of the Pakistan Government in Fata along with improving the government's ability to provide good governance and deliver essential services is critical to stability in South Asia and to the global war on terror.

"While ideally, USAID resources might be programmed through a combination of the Fata Secretariat and the Fata Development Authority, at this time neither of these organisations has the capacity to plan and manage development resources of the sums that are about to be allocated," says the document.

Commenting on the status of women living in the tribal areas, the document says: "Too overt a focus on women's programmes and women's issues can generate hostility within the communities and should be avoided, especially at the early stages of the programme."

"It would be counter-productive to the overall objectives of this programme for tribal elders to perceive proposed gender programme as potentially corrupting threats to the local social and cultural fabric," it added.

ANI