CHITRAL, Nov 7: There have always been public complaints about some foreigners working in different donor-funded projects across Pakistan with their agenda of collecting intelligence for their respective spy agencies. In many cases, some foreigners were accused of involvement in suspicious activities and taking interest in clandestine work in Pakistan. This presumption gained strength after the Abbottabad operation in which US forces killed Osama bin Laden. It was reported that some people on the payroll of foreign agencies had got access to Osama in the Abbottabad compound to collect blood samples for DNA testing. Some poeple in Chitral also talked about a foreigner who had been working with a Canadian firm, Cowater Inc, in its CESSD project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His stay in this project remained full of mysteries due to his alleged nepotism, favoritism and vested interest. Actually, that project suffered a lot due to the negative management practices. He facilitated the formation of bogus NGOs and paved the way for money making. One such NGO was established in Chitral which was awarded huge financial contracts violating all the requirements. In 2012, this gentle man was deported from Chitral upon his alleged suspicious role. Similar happened with this expatriate in Kohat as well. Ultimately, this man was thrown out by Cowater Inc but he tried his best to remain in Pakistan, particularly KP. However, he became a team member of a consultant firm working for an EU-funded project in Sindh. Now the foreigner has succeeded in acquiring a senior level position in a consultant firm which is hired by European Union for a project in the sensitive Malakand division. All this needs serious probing that what was the thrust of the foreigner which drags him to work in KP particularly in Malakand division which was already a sensitive part of country. A person who was deported over his suspicious behavior and conduct is again being retained by a donor-funded project raising many questions. It is needed that international donors and consultant firms should abstain from hiring such suspicious persons in their pro-poor and development initiatives. –Sajid Hussain]]>
