NWFP ‘at war’, governance becoming difficult: Hoti

PESHAWAR: The NWFP is at ‘war’ and governance of the province is “becoming difficult”, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti said on Thursday.“Financial turmoil in the province has resulted in the birth of various problems,” he told officers training at the National School of Public Policy during a briefing. He said the federal government should provide “enormous funds” to the province, as its people were “fighting a war for the survival and existence of the whole country”.“FATA-like conditions are slowly developing in other parts of the country after starting in the settled districts of the province. There is a need for the other three provinces, in collaboration with the federal government, to help us because ignoring these conditions today could cause severe problems tomorrow,” he added.Hoti said the NWFP was suffering from insurgency, terrorism, internal displacement, shortage of food and decline in the efficiency of the law enforcement agencies. “While Pakistan has played a frontline role in the war on terror, the NWFP has paid a huge price in the form of destruction of (its) infrastructure and bloodshed on larger scale due to combat along the Pak-Afghan border. The situation in Afghanistan has directly affected the tribal belt, resulting in a third element of militancy gaining momentum,” he added. The chief minister said there is a serious threat to peace in the province and his government is taking practical steps to strengthen the police force, which is facing lack of infrastructure, modern training and equipment. A special project worth Rs 1 billion has been launched to eradicate poverty, he added.