A two-week wait: KKH to finally open for traffic today

G-B govt also announced inquiries into alleged corruption scandals in the education department.

GILGIT:

Traffic along the Karakoram Highway (KKH) will resume on Thursday (today), announced the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government on Wednesday, ending the plight of stranded passengers after two weeks.

“We decided in a meeting to allow traffic on the KKH Thursday onwards,” said Minister for Information Sadia Danish.



The highway was sealed from November 14 – a day before Muharram 10 – to avoid any untoward incidents. However, in the wake of the Rawalpindi incident on Ashura, the suspension was prolonged due to protests along the 600 kilometre-long highway.

The G-B government has remained in contact with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government over the closure but delayed the decision to reopen the KKH as it didn’t get clearance from K-P.

However, on Wednesday, the issue was settled after the G-B government discussed the issue with both the K-P and federal government.

The closure, however, has greatly inconvenienced the people of G-B as they were left without an alternative route to travel and there were not enough Pakistan International Airlines flights to help.

Corruption inquiry

Several officials from the G-B government are likely to face action as an inquiry launched into alleged corruption scams was finalised.

The inquiry was ordered after reports of scams – such as backdoor appointments – in the education department surfaced. The opposition raised the issue in the assembly and accused the government of helping officials with illegal appointments.

Members of the opposition alleged that development projects in the region were left incomplete because of corruption, especially in Mehdi Shah’s government.

On Wednesday, both Danish and a G-B government official confirmed the inquiry against education department officials has been completed and had been launched in response to allegations.

New appointment and suspensions

The director of the food department was suspended on orders from chief secretary Younus Dagha and was replaced by Astore Momin Jan, the deputy commissioner. On Tuesday, the chief secretary visited Government City Hospital and ordered action against absentee doctors. A senior engineer from the public works department was also suspended for misappropriation of development funds.

The chief minister’s inspection commission also submitted a report after conducting inquiries into various projects in the seven districts of G-B.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2013.