US donates road-building equipment to FATA

PESHAWAR, March 16 (INP): The United States Tuesday donated road-building equipment valued at Rs. 168 million ($2 million) to the FATA Secretariat.
In a handover ceremony held in Hayatabad, U.S. Consul General Candace Putnam presented the equipment to FATA Additional Chief Secretary Habibullah Khan, including 25 road rollers, 15 stone crushers, 15 asphalt mixers, 16 air compressors and 16 jack hammers.
The road-building equipment will be used by the FATA Secretariat to maintain and construct roads throughout the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, said the Consul General.
“We are pleased to be partners with the FATA Secretariat as it strives to connect the people of the FATA with each other and the rest of Pakistan and increase trade opportunities for the region as a whole” he said.
The equipment handover is part of the wider Rs. 1.7 billion ($20 million) that the U.S. is currently spending to construct and rehabilitate roads in the NWFP and FATA. Over the past twenty years, the U.S. has spent Rs. 4 billion ($60 million) to construct over 900 kilometers of road, primarily in the FATA. It is also planning to spend Rs. 3.2 billion ($40 million) for the construction of two major new roads in the NWFP over the next two years.