Stumped, K-P govt open to ideas to control dengue

Local govt minister urges people to drain out stagnant water

PESHAWAR: With the number of dengue cases in the province nearing the 3,000 marks, a government member in the provincial assembly on Tuesday said that he was open to any suggestion from either the treasury or the opposition benches to curtail the epidemic.

During Tuesday’s session of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly, presided over by Zahid Shah Toru, member of the Panel of Chairperson, Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Inayatullah Khan presented an adjournment motion to discuss the growing dengue epidemic in the province.

He continued that the first dengue case in the country had emerged in 1994 and today, as many as 2,758 cases of the viral fever have been reported in the province during the year so far.

At this, K-P Local Government Minister Shahram Tarkai said that dengue was not only afflicting the province, adding that vast swathes of the country were suffering from it.

He added that they were ready to implement any recommendation in this regard.

One solution he referred to was how the Punjab government was imposing g fines on those houses where dengue larvae had been discovered. However, Tarakai said that the epidemic cannot be controlled unless the public is ready to clean stagnant water in or around their house.

The minister assured the house that the government will run an awareness campaign about dengue.

Moreover, Lodhi pleaded with opposition members to adjourn questions regarding the health ministry due to absence of the minister, adding that the health department failed to inform the alternative minister in time, nor did it provide details regarding issues.

Inayatullah, though, demanded that the government provide them with details of the damages in natural catastrophes and accidents in the province, particularly the recent accident in Kohistan where 27 people died.

PPP’s Ahmed Kundi urged the chief minister to visit Dera Ismail Khan where 200 houses were affected by floods. Babak chimed in by calling for a government survey of all flood-affected areas.

Food Minister Qalandar Lodhi said that the government had released Rs666.746 million to deputy commissioners (DCs) to compensate those affected by natural disasters.

CAN

In a call-to-attention notice (CAN), ANP’s Waqar Ahmed Khan stated the Dr Khan Shaheed Degree College built in Swat lacked facilities.

K-P Food Security Minister Qalandar Lodhi assured him that the college will be activated soon.

Sardar Khan tabled a CAN, stating that non-locals were recruited as class-four employees in the PK-3 constituency in violation of the rules and established norms. At this, Minister for Natural Resources Dr Amjad Ali clarified the policy, noting that there are two committees to hire such employees and lawmakers of the constituency only had 50% quota.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the K-P Assembly Akram Durrani protested the hour-long delay in starting the assembly session on Tuesday. Claiming that the government was going down an egregious path, he added that government officials appear angry with each other.

“Neither the chief minister nor ministers come to assembly session. This kind of attitude is disappointing and demoralizing,” he said.

Lodhi introduced the K-P Journalist Welfare Endowment Fund (Amendment) Bill 2019.

On a point of objection, ANP’s Sardar Hussain Babak expressed concerns over the National Testing System (NTS) for recruitment in government departments. He lamented that papers are leaked every time while the government’s silence on the issue was disturbing.

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s (MMA) Rehana Ismail in a supplementary resolution demanded that the government merge services of the staff at MPA Hostel with the assembly secretariat like in other provinces.

Aisha Bano from the ruling PTI presented a resolution demanding the provision of clean water along with a rehabilitation programme in jails across the province. The motion was approved unanimously.

Resolutions to ban pornographic websites and on sale of wheat in the province was also approved.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2019.