Jabba Dam Affectees To Camp Outside Khyber House Until Demands Are Met

KHYBER: Affectees of the Jabba Dam, Tappa Maki Khel and Tappa Mastal Khel have announced that they will set up a protest camp outside Khyber House in Peshawar on September 17 over the non-implementation of their 22-point charter of demands.

Speaking at a press conference at the Jamrud Press Club, representatives of the affected communities, including Muhammad Irfan Khattiyakhel, Dawood Khan, Haji Lal Bat Khan, Fazal Rahman, Satana Mir and Khayal Akbar, said they had approached various government departments for months to seek their legal rights.

They said they had held meetings with officials, submitted applications and presented a 22-point charter of demands, but received no concrete response.

The affectees had earlier established a protest camp on August 2 during the visit of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister to Jamrud. They said the camp was later ended following assurances from the civil administration that the affected land would be fully accounted for and details of all affected people and compensation payments would be provided.

They said the administration had also assured them that the land measurement process would be completed and progress would be made on their legitimate financial and other demands.

According to the affectees, they later visited the Jabba Dam area along with officials from relevant departments, where land coordinates were recorded. However, they said the measurement process had still not been completed.

They said land measurement, demarcation and verification of ownership were basic steps under the legal land acquisition process, but they were still being told that complete records of all affected people were not available.

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The affectees also questioned the payment of more than Rs474.7 million in compensation despite the award having not yet been made.

They demanded that the complete record of acquired land and compensation payments be made public, saying affected people had the right to know how much land was acquired from each person and how much compensation was paid.

The affectees said delays in measurement, lack of complete records and discrepancies in the process had increased their concerns.

They clarified that they were not against development and wanted the Jabba Dam project to be completed, but would not accept any violation of their rights.

The affectees announced that they would set up a protest camp outside Khyber House in Peshawar on September 17 and continue it until their demands were accepted.

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