United Ambassador Donald Blome Thursday termed the IMF stand-by agreement for Pakistan a very positive development the stabilising the economy of the country.
Pakistan was confronted with various economic challenges and the Internationally Monetary Fund’s (IMF) agreement would help the country overcome the crisis soon, he added.
The ambassador was addressing a ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the Board of Revenue of Khyber Pakthunkhwa, Provincial Ombudsperson Office and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for cooperation in digitalization of land record in the Newly Merged Districts (NMD).
Besides Ambassador Blome, the MoU signing ceremony and handing over of equipment for digitalization of land record system in NMDs was also witnessed by Secretary KP Board of Revenue Department Khalid Khan and Provincial Ombudsperson Rakhshanda Naz.
The ambassador said the US was the largest investor in Pakistan.
He said that inheritance rights to women in properties would help them to financially support their families.
He said that Pakistan had generously accepted and supported the Afghan refugees for several decades.
During the ceremony, the USAID has provided $5 million worth of equipment to the KP Board of Revenue that would help augmenting its capacity for accurate land measurements.
The MoU was aimed to support goverment of Khyber Pakthunkhwa to strengthen transparency and accuracy in the land records and registration system, promoting economic growth and investment in NMDs.
The United States also announced a new partnership to empower the ombudsperson secretariat by providing training to the department’s staff on women rights and land settlement regulations.
The initiative was aimed to raise awareness about ombudsperson crucial role in safeguarding women’s rights including property inheritance.
Secretary Board of Revenue Department, Khalid Khan said digitalizing land records system was underway in the seven subdivisions of NMDs that would give inheritance property rights to women and address land settlements issues among tribesmen.
He said land digitalization in merged areas would help increasing efficiency, accuracy and convenience.
Appreciating the support of US, he said land digitalization in all 49 subdivisions in merged areas would be completed in three to four years.
Initially the project was started with an estimated cost of Rs 1200 million under which 90 percent manual work on property and settlement issues in merged areas were completed.
Provincial Ombudsperson, Rakhshanda Naz said the project would economically empower women in tribal districts after digitalization of land records and would long disputes among tribesmen.—APP
