Question hour: Water and Power ministry draws flak in NA

Fails to provide written answers to quries of the assembly members.

ISLAMABAD: On its rota day, ministry of water and power failed to give written replies to a majority of members’ questions in National Assembly on Thursday.

Irked, the members turned their guns to state minister for water and power Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi present in the house.

Qureshi’s failure to give a satisfactory reason for the ministry’s inability to reply to the questions first prompted Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi and then Chairman Nadeem Afzal Gondal to take notices. The minister was asked for a written explanation.

Referring to Water and Power Secretary Nargis Sethi, Gondal asked the state minister Qureshi as to why a secretary should not be suspended over the issue.

LDC Status

Pakistan would get duty free market access to European Union (EU) if it can prove that it is a Least Developed Country (LDC) like Bangladesh, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Minister for Textile Industry told the house.

He was replying to a member’s question on the reasons Pakistan’s textile industry moved to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The minister denied that the textile industry moved to Bangladesh over non-provision of facilities by the government. “It is not that the industry packed up from Pakistan. Those who went to Bangladesh pursued business expansion, chasing Bangladesh’s LDC benefits,” Shahabuddin said.

Rs35 billion car scam

MNA Shireen Arshad posed a question to the ministry of industries of an alleged scam of Rs35 billion involving import of cars, members in the lower house bombarded the parliamentary secretary for industries Syed Haider Ali Shah with subsequent questions.

MNA Kashmala Tariq said that all three Japanese motor companies currently operating plants in Pakistan were essentially assemblers and not manufacturers. “They do not fall under industry. Why were they being given incentives,” asked Tariq.