G-B governor: Barjees Tahir to oversee mega projects

Says ousted governor not informed officially because he belonged to PPP

ISLAMABAD: Gilgit-Baltistan Governor Chaudhry Barjees Tahir on Thursday said that he was appointed to oversee and monitor the projects under way in the area under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

“It is the discretion of the federal government to appoint governor of G-B and I have been elevated to this office particularly to monitor the mega development projects in the area,” Barjees Tahir said talking to the media in Islamabad.

Tahir is the federal minister for Kashmir Affairs and G-B and now the governor of the territory.

Defending the move of the federal government to appoint a new governor without informing the sitting governor, Tahir said that Pir Karam Ali Shah was appointed by the former president, so there was no need to send him a formal termination letter or extracting a resignation from him by the sitting president.

Tahir also mentioned that as per the rules of the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Rule Order 2009, he is eligible to be appointed as governor of G-B as he could be elected as member National Assembly and is over 35 years of age, which is the key qualification for this office.

However, he was sceptical to mention that clause 101 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan where it is also mentioned that a person can be appointed as governor of a certain province only if he is the registered voter of that province.

The new governor also levelled allegations of irregularities committed by his predecessor. He said that the former governor has been receiving around $4,500 per month in rent for his Islamabad house by converting it into the official residence of the governor. “We will probe as to why Karam Ali Shah has been receiving rent of his house in US dollars instead of Pakistani rupees,” Tahir said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2015.