Islamabad, Jul 18 (IANS): A gift of expensive knitting machines from China for militancy-hit people of Pakistan's Khyber Pakthunkhwa province is lying unused for over a year due to lack of trained manpower.

The provincial directorate of technical education and manpower is now hunting for experts to run the machines and other equipment.

Besides knitting machines, China also gifted heavy machinery worth millions of rupees.

Sources told the daily Dawn that the provincial government had requested China to donate heavy machinery for reconstruction activities to rehabilitate institutions that were impacted due to insurgency.

China sent a consignment, including 20 knitting machines of industrial specification. One machine weighed 3,000 kg and a problem was faced in transporting it to Malakand.

Officials said that the directorate had sought training-cum-production knitting machines to train manpower while China had sent industrial level machines.

"Beggars can't be choosers. Therefore, we can't send the machines back to China," an official was quoted as saying.