K-P Assembly sees outages a conspiracy

Lawmakers warble in harmony, demand transfer of WAPDA chief

PESHAWAR:

Maintaining impetus of fiery statements against electric supply companies distributing power in the province, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has termed the power outages a well-planned design.

Passing a resolution wherein both the treasury and opposition sang in unison against Water and Power Development Authority on Tuesday, the house demanded the immediate transfer of the authority’s provincial chief executive. The resolution was moved by Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Nighat Orakzai. Orakzai had also tabled the resolution on Monday that pressed the federal government to serve exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the Kasur child pornography scandal in Punjab.



The resolution states the provincial cabinet and even members of other political parties protested for the province’s cause in Islamabad but the federal government cared little to address the concerns. The province that powers the entire country is itself deprived of its due share of electricity and net hydel profits.

On the other hand, Minister for Law Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi and Minister for Irrigation Mehmood Khan presented the K-P Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the K-P Canal and Drainage (Amendment) Bill 2015 respectively.

The whistleblower bill was skipped by the speaker and was not presented.

Talking to The Express Tribune, opposition leader Maulana Lutfur Rahman said, “A majority of the bills come from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s central leadership and the provincial government rubber-stamps them without even reviewing.” He said the opposition has requested the government to keep the whistleblower bill on hold so that it can be evaluated thoroughly. “The law can be misused if passed without careful consideration.”

New reforms

The LG legislation, which is yet to be passed, will render elected representatives disqualified if they do not comply with the policies and discipline of their respective parties.

The drainage legislation will help the government control garbage disposal in canals and encroachment along their banks. It increases fines up to Rs20,000 and imprisonment terms between a year and two.

Mine games

Detained former minister Ziaullah Afridi became a topic of discussion yet again. Qaumi Watan Party’s Bakht Baidar Khan asked the speaker through the point of order to shift Afridi from prison to the MPA hostel to which Asad Qaiser snapped by saying he will do what the law permits.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s Mufti Fazal Ghafoor expressed concern over police action against load-shedding protesters in Buner.

Lakki Marwat MPA Noor Saleem Khan drew attention towards the law and order situation in his hometown. “People are being murdered in broad daylight while the police are helpless.”

The government assured both the lawmakers that formal enquiries will be initiated.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2015.