K-P cabinet okays plan to set up new tourism authority
Resolution passed against India’s annexation of Jammu and Kashmir
PHOTO: REUTERS
PESHAWAR:
The provincial cabinet on Friday decided to set up a new tourism authority in the province which will regulate tourism zones apart from controlling the new tourism police force.
The cabinet also passed a resolution rejecting the annexation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government as it expressed its solidarity with the armed forces and people of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).
This was passed during a meeting of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) cabinet which met in Peshawar on Friday with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan presiding.
After the meeting, Senior Minister Atif Khan and Adviser to the Chief Minister on merged districts Ajmal Wazir briefed the media about the decisions taken in the meeting.
They said that the provincial cabinet has completely endorsed measures taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan with respect to India’s move to annex occupied Kashmir by eliminating its special status.
Atif said that they will stand shoulder to shoulder with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters in the hour of need and that they will never step back from the Kashmir cause.
The tourism minister said that during Friday’s meeting, CM Mahmood had sought performance reports from each ministry. These reports, Atif said, will be presented before Prime Minister Imran after the Eidul Azha holidays in Islamabad.
Those found lacking or who have failed to meet their targets will face a decision related to their portfolio from the prime minister himself, Atif said.
Further, Atif said that the provincial cabinet had taken a decision to open up the Chief Minister House, the Governor House and the K-P Assembly Speaker houses to the public. Further, the rest houses owned by the provincial police department and other government departments will also be opened to the public on Eidul Azha.
To provide accommodation to tourists, he said that they had opened up 169 government-owned guest and rest houses to the public through the online booking facility.
Even though there exists the K-P Tourism Corporation — which operates as an attached department of the provincial tourism ministry — Atif said that the government had decided to establish a new culture and tourism authority.
The body, he explained, will be able to recommend granting the status of ‘tourism zone’ to any potential tourist spot in the province.
To be created through an act of the provincial legislature, Atif said that the tourism police which is being raised to police tourist spots in the province will operate under the same law.
The senior minister said that the provincial cabinet has also endorsed a move to utilise the services of National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) to use their resources for irrigating some 191,139 hectares of farmland with water from the Gomal Zam Dam.
Further, he said that some 600 kilometres of roads and seven bridges will be built in the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata) under a programme sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Wazir said that that the cabinet passed the Razmak Cadet College Regulation Act after which the 1977 regulation act will be abolished.
The provincial cabinet also decided to accord the status of a tehsil to Ghari Kapura in the Mardan district.
In South Waziristan, Wazir said that the provincial cabinet had approved a measure to provide compensation to people living in Shakai and Shatokai areas for drowning in the Tarbela Lake.
Approval was also given for the procurement of 52 new vehicles for the newly-merged districts of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 10th, 2019.
The provincial cabinet on Friday decided to set up a new tourism authority in the province which will regulate tourism zones apart from controlling the new tourism police force.
The cabinet also passed a resolution rejecting the annexation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government as it expressed its solidarity with the armed forces and people of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).
This was passed during a meeting of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) cabinet which met in Peshawar on Friday with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan presiding.
After the meeting, Senior Minister Atif Khan and Adviser to the Chief Minister on merged districts Ajmal Wazir briefed the media about the decisions taken in the meeting.
They said that the provincial cabinet has completely endorsed measures taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan with respect to India’s move to annex occupied Kashmir by eliminating its special status.
Atif said that they will stand shoulder to shoulder with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters in the hour of need and that they will never step back from the Kashmir cause.
The tourism minister said that during Friday’s meeting, CM Mahmood had sought performance reports from each ministry. These reports, Atif said, will be presented before Prime Minister Imran after the Eidul Azha holidays in Islamabad.
Those found lacking or who have failed to meet their targets will face a decision related to their portfolio from the prime minister himself, Atif said.
Further, Atif said that the provincial cabinet had taken a decision to open up the Chief Minister House, the Governor House and the K-P Assembly Speaker houses to the public. Further, the rest houses owned by the provincial police department and other government departments will also be opened to the public on Eidul Azha.
To provide accommodation to tourists, he said that they had opened up 169 government-owned guest and rest houses to the public through the online booking facility.
Even though there exists the K-P Tourism Corporation — which operates as an attached department of the provincial tourism ministry — Atif said that the government had decided to establish a new culture and tourism authority.
The body, he explained, will be able to recommend granting the status of ‘tourism zone’ to any potential tourist spot in the province.
To be created through an act of the provincial legislature, Atif said that the tourism police which is being raised to police tourist spots in the province will operate under the same law.
The senior minister said that the provincial cabinet has also endorsed a move to utilise the services of National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) to use their resources for irrigating some 191,139 hectares of farmland with water from the Gomal Zam Dam.
Further, he said that some 600 kilometres of roads and seven bridges will be built in the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata) under a programme sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Wazir said that that the cabinet passed the Razmak Cadet College Regulation Act after which the 1977 regulation act will be abolished.
The provincial cabinet also decided to accord the status of a tehsil to Ghari Kapura in the Mardan district.
In South Waziristan, Wazir said that the provincial cabinet had approved a measure to provide compensation to people living in Shakai and Shatokai areas for drowning in the Tarbela Lake.
Approval was also given for the procurement of 52 new vehicles for the newly-merged districts of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 10th, 2019.