According to the concerned citizens, Bilour failed to get a single overhead bridge constructed in his constituency during the five years of his government. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ FILE
Despite being the provincial capital, Peshawar has not been given many opportunities to take lead in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government.
The city has 11 seats in the K-P Assembly. Yet, the last time one of its residents occupied the chief minister (CM) position was in 1988, when Arbab Jehangir Khan had the top provincial slot.
Since then, Peshawar has not been given a chance to sit in the K-P government’s driving seat.
In 2008, many Peshawar residents were optimistic senior Awami National Party (ANP) leader Bashir Ahmed Bilour would be made CM. Yet Bilour remained unsuccessful as dynastic politics came into play and Ameer Haider Hoti, son of a former federal minister and nephew of ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan was made CM.
On Thursday, a handful of relatively unknown senior citizens from across the city gathered at the Peshawar Press Club (PPC) and raised their voices on the issue.
Malik Fayyaz hailing from Sikandar Khan Garhi, Haji Maqsood from Swati Phattak and Fazl Karim from Regi Lalma told reporters the provincial capital had four National Assembly (NA) and 11 provincial assembly seats.
But Peshawar has been denied adequate representation in the government, despite being one of the oldest cities in the country, they added.
The concerned denizens pointed out the city’s infrastructure failed to keep pace with the rapid movement of immigrants from Afghanistan and people from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to the urban centre.
“During the past three decades, Peshawar did not see any major development be it in the form of hospitals, universities, sanitation, drainage, drinking water, health or other civic facilities. These remain a distant dream for the people of Peshawar,” said one of the elders.
They drew attention to the fact not one student from the district had managed to get a top position in board examinations.
“After Arbab Jehangir, Aftab Sherpao from Charsadda was elected chief minister. He was followed by Mir Afzal Khan from Mardan, Pir Sabir Shah from Haripur, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan from Abbotabad, Akram Khan Durrani from Bannu and Ameer Haider Khan Hoti from Mardan. Now Pervez Khattak from Nowshera has been nominated for the position,” the elderly man complained.
Not to ignore the topic of mismanagement, the group at the PPC went on to allege the provincial capital’s infrastructure had been destroyed under “blue-eyed bureaucrats; even the Government Transport Service was sold in collusion with transport mafias”.
While former CM Hoti was from Mardan, the elders felt former federal minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour who belongs to Peshawar did not do nearly enough for the city. According to the concerned citizens, Bilour failed to get a single overhead bridge constructed in his constituency during the five years of his government. Traffic jams are almost a daily cause of worry for residents.
“There is no concept of traffic engineering in Peshawar and thousands of unregistered vehicles and rickshaws make it very difficult to navigate through narrow roads,” noted one of the group.
They demanded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf announce a special package for Peshawar’s development.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 24th, 2013.
1726054615-0/OpenAI-(2)1726054615-0-270x192.webp "openai s o1 model tried to copy itself during shutdown tests")
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ