Mining leases to foreigners upset local investors in Fata

Afghan refugees making investments in different projects

PESHAWAR: The issuance of prospective licences and leases to Afghan refugees on the basis of fraudulently made nationality documents on the one hand has caused unrest to local investors and affected production of minerals in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

According to sources, several Afghan refugees have already been awarded the leases of different mines in Mohmand and other tribal agencies. The cases of a number of others are under process.

The sources said the financially rich Afghan refugees can easily win the support of the influential people in bureaucracy as well as political circles. With their help, the sources said, they not only manage to get nationality documents like domicile certificates, national identity cards and passports, but also make investments in different projects.

The quarters concerned have been unable to check the issuance of computerised identity cards to the Afghan refugees, though they have made the process much more difficult for local applicants.

“The local investors and members of Fata chamber of commerce have expressed concern over the grant of leases to the Afghan refugees. They have also taken up the issue at higher levels several times, but to no avail,” a member of the Fata chamber told The News on the condition of anonymity.

He said these ‘foreigners’ make excessive use of money to get the favour of those at the helm of affairs. “They make every effort to create problems for local investors and mint maximum money from the mines leased out to them without taking care of local population’s miseries, environmental hazards and the sustainability of the mines,” he said.

Some reports suggested that apart from the officials in the department concerned, the foreigners manage to get the support of the influential tribal elders to get their work done. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has very recently issued arrest warrants against some influential tribal elders and former parliamentarians, who helped some Afghan refugees get identity cards in a fraudulent manner.

As far as the leases of mines are concerned, the Governor’s Fata Secretariat has enforced standard operating procedure to ensure the grant of lease to genuine and deserving people. But these Afghan refugees are influential enough to easily bypass all those procedures and get leases worth hundreds of millions of rupees.

Another investor told The News the Ashraf Ghani government in Afghanistan had introduced very tough criteria for the exploration and production of minerals and gems. The Afghan nationals dealing in this business find it far easier to get nationality documents and required leases in the tribal areas than their own country, he explained.

It was learnt that several Afghans had already got the lease and a number of others were still in the pipeline. Hamid Khan, whose real name is Toryali and originally hails from Momand Darra area in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, is one among them. He has already got one lease and his applications for nearly eight more leases are under process.

A senior official of the Fata Mineral Department, when contacted, said that they ensured strict implementation of the required criteria for the grant of lease. He expressed unawareness about the award of lease to any foreigner.

The official said over 30 leases of marble have been granted to various lease-holders in Mohmand Agency and from 30 to 35 applications were still under process.

The total deposits of marble in the tribal agencies are seven billion tons of which 3.5 billion tons exist only in Mohmand Agency. The total produce from the marble mines of Mohmand Agency is five to 600,000 tonnes, according to sources.