WANA: The victims of the timber market belonging to Wana in Lower South Waziristan district have knocked on the door of every government office from Wana through Peshawar to Islamabad, but the promises of the government authorities could not be fulfilled.
Rehman Ullah Wazir, the victim of Timber Market Wana, said that two years ago, our Timber Market Wana suffered a loss of crores and billions of rupees due to a fire in the dark of night and due to which our businesses were badly affected, however, since then, no financial support has been provided to the victims despite repeated assurances from the district administration to higher government officials.
Rehman Ullah Wazir further said that the district administration officers of South Waziristan Lower visited the site and compiled a report of the damage and assured us that they will compensate for the loss.
The victims said that the former MPA Naseerullah Khan and EX MNA Ali Wazir of the current constituency are also fully aware of this whole situation, but till now our case is as it is, no progress has been made.
On the other hand, Pakistan People’s Party Lower South Waziristan district president Aman Ullah Wazir said that two years ago, valuable timber and goods were burnt to ashes due to a fire in Wana Bazar Timber Market but despite the passage of such a long time, no one has provided financial assistance to the victims, this is a matter of injustice and cruelty.
Aman Ullah Wazir added that we have raised this issue at the highest level, but no one listened to them and no one is trying to solve it.
In this regard, District Coordinator Syed Umar Mehsud said that the PDMA Relief Compensation Act of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa does not have any scope for damages or compensation for property caused by fire.
The PDMA Act provides relief compensation only for death or injury, not to mention other damages caused by fire.
The coordinator further said that the former DC Khalid Iqbal had sent the case to SMEDA at that time, but SMEDA got lost in the middle and therefore the case is pending.
It should be noted that two years ago, two fires broke out in the Wana Timber Market due to unknown reasons, which caused a loss of crores of rupees, among the victims were shopkeepers who suffered losses of crores of rupees if not millions.
The affected persons have also given their requests before the investigation committee for document processing while they are still waiting for assistance.
Rehman Ullah Wazir, the victim, said that jointly, the Wana Timber Market Committee has placed a compiled file report on the damages before the federal and provincial governments, as well as the district authorities, to provide financial support to us.
