Low yield: PA adjourned without debate on irrigation

Parliamentary Secretary for Transport asked to ensure timely responses

LAHORE:

A debate on the irrigation sector was prevented in the Punjab Assembly on Monday as the session was adjourned over lack of quorum.

Less than 50 lawmakers were present in the House when Ehsan Riaz Fatyana pointed out lack of quorum. Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal allowed a 20-minute break to let more lawmakers join the session. However, only 20 more lawmakers joined the session when it resumed after the break. The opposition benches were completely empty at this point.

Treasury benches recorded their protest against the opposition member’s absence.

During the question hour, opposition lawmakers condemned the government for what they said was its officials’ failure to come up with satisfactory responses to their questions on transport and irrigation sectors.

Only five questions were taken up on Monday. Treasury and Opposition benches were unanimous in chiding Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Muhammad Nawaz Chohan for not taking any action over violation of a law on number of seats in passenger vans. Arshad Malik, Ilyas Chinioti and Siddique Khan said that Toyota Hiace vans running on various routes were allowed to carry no more than 15 people, including the driver and the conductor, per van. However, they said the practice of accommodating more passengers was widespread and the government had yet to take any action on it.

Opposition members also voiced protest at the Transport Department’s failure to respond to Khurram Jehangir Wattoo’s question about a mass transit project started in 2008 in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Wattoo had sought an explanation for the closure of the project after a feasibility report had been prepared. Mian Aslam Iqbal said the government had failed to come up with a satisfactory response to the questions regarding its mass transit projects.

Censuring the parliamentary secretary for transport, the speaker said that submission of answers should be timely. His admonition of the secretary was lauded by the Opposition benches.

Speaking on a point of order, Leader of the Opposition Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed continued discussion on the transport sector. He said the secretary concerned had not taken up a question on subsidy given on the Metro Bus Service, Rawalpindi. Rasheed expressed reservations over the government’s decision to pay a subsidy of Rs325 per kilometre to a Turkish company for running the bus service instead of purchasing buses and running the service on its own.

Other issues taken up on points of order were a hike in prices of medicines by multinational companies; fee charged by private hospitals and no revision in transport fares despite a decline in petroleum prices.

Treasury member Farzana Nazir’s criticism of Imran Khan’s statement on Kashmir was shot down by the speaker.

The House failed to complete most of the day’s agenda. Discussion on call attention notices and legislative business were left over.

The session will continue on Tuesday morning.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2016.