K & P

Corruption allegations : JUI-F to issue white paper against K-P government

Alleges provincial government has caused the Auqaf Department to go bankrupt.

Our Correspondent March 08, 2013

Haqqani said the auqaf department had refused to pay the utility bills of 45 mosques, including historical mosques. PHOTO: FILE

PESHAWAR: Former provincial minister for Auqaf, Maualana Amanullah Haqqani, announced a white paper would be issued against the Awami National Party (ANP) led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government. He alleged the provincial government had caused the Auqaf Department to go bankrupt by giving its properties on lease for 20 years and allowing large-scale corruption.

Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club (PPC) on Thursday, Haqqani said the department had refused to pay the utility bills of 45 mosques, including historical mosques. He claimed the department only had Rs100,000 left.

Praising the former Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) provincial government, Haqqani maintained the department had previously reserved Rs120 million under their tenure, and further added a saving of only Rs0.1 million indicated a clear case of corruption.

He alleged the ANP-led government had violated the department’s law by giving property to leaders in Peshawar and Mardan at a cheap rate without proper auction.

Haqqani said the department’s property was its only source of generating revenue, adding that the MMA government had retrieved property belonging to the department from influential people.

He appealed to the National Accountability Bureau to probe the presence of corruption in the department and warned he would organise protests against the outgoing government if the matter was not taken seriously.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2013.