Khattak was addressing attendees of a National Defence University course at Chief Minister House in Peshawar on Thursday. Participants also included members of national and provincial assemblies.
“All arrangements for local government institutions are in their final stages and elections will take place in April.”
Reiterating his party’s stance on ensuring ground participation in policy making, Khattak said, “The world will see our local government system will be different from Punjab,” where Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has monopolised all powers, said the chief minster of K-P.
The cons of Kalabagh
The construction of Kalabagh Dam is harmful to the interests of this province, Khattak responded to a question about the Dam.
He said he recalled attending a Wapda briefing on the pros of the project some 25 years ago. However, he said, 10 minutes into the presentation, “all of us walked out as we found [the proposal] very harmful.”
In 2010, he added, most of Nowshera, its towns, villages and hamlets were underwater for several days. “After the construction [of Kalabagh] the whole of Peshawar Valley could be affected; its people would require boats to travel from one place to another.”
The displacement
Internally displaced persons (IDP) from North Waziristan are the responsibility of the federal government and “the province has no concern with the matter”.
However, he claimed, the K-P government is providing Rs3,000 in rent to each displaced family on humanitarian grounds. “Every month Rs300-350 million from the provincial exchequer is being spent on IDPs.”
PTI’s agenda for change
Khattak stated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was determined to implement ‘change’ in K-P.
“Unless you satisfy the public, there can be no reforms in this country,” said the K-P CM. “And we have the mandate to bring change; we are determined to go ahead with the wishes and expectations of the people.”
Highlighting his government’s work, Khattak said, in addition to streamlining affairs of tertiary hospitals, it plans to construct several other hospitals.
He claimed corruption and the menace of bribes has been eliminated from police stations and patwar khanas. Conceding that corruption could not be ended until government employees were paid more, Khattak promised to make reasonable increments in their wages.
Khattak reminded his audience that “so far 140 bills and acts have been tabled in the assembly, whereas a number of important bills have already been passed.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2014.
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