PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has claimed it has filed 371 corruption references with accountability courts in the province, arrested 607 people over corruption and recovered Rs2.946 billion from them since its establishment in 1999. The claim was made during a presentation of NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa director general Shahzad Saleem to NAB chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry at the bureau’s regional office here on Thursday. The director general said since its inception, the NAB KP had received 32,318 complaints of corruption and they all had been disposed of. He said the NAB had so far authorised 1,300 inquiries, whereas 147 were under process. Shahzad Saleem said the bureau had also ordered 570 investigations and 47 of them were underway. The NAB chairman said the bureau was committed to eliminating corruption and corrupt practice across the board. He said corruption was a major hurdle to national progress and prosperity. “It produces injustice and poverty and subsides merit by depriving a deserving person of its due right,” he said, adding that corruption affected country just like a cancer. Qamar Zaman said corruption not only caused delays in the early completion of development projects but also caused huge losses to national exchequer. He said the increase in the number of complaints also reflected enhanced public trust in the NAB. The chairman said the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was one of the important regional bureaus of NAB and that it was playing prominent role in contributing towards the overall performance of NAB. He appreciated the performance of regional bureau and ordered the arrest of all corrupt people, proclaimed offenders and absconders in line with the bureau’s enforcement policy. Qamar Zaman directed the NAB KP officials to work more vigilantly, diligently and honestly to check corruption and corrupt practices in the province. He praised the director general and said performance of all wings of NAB KP under his supervision was appreciable. The NAB director general told the chairman that the regional bureau was actively perusing the cause of elimination of corruption and corrupt practices through a holistic approach of awareness, prevention and enforcement by adopting zero tolerance policy across the board. Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196057/nab-recovered-rs295bn-dirty-money-in-kp-since-1999-says-dg
PESHAWAR: As a local ehtesab court on Thursday extended the remand of mines minister Ziaullah Afridi in the custody of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission for 13 days, the suspect once again accused Chief Minister Pervez Khattak of trying to influence the inquiry against him in the case of misuse of authority. The minister was produced before ehtesab judge Hayat Ali Shah by the officials of the commission after completion of 13 days physical remand. Know more: PTI provincial minister, 10 others arrested by NAB The judge ordered his production on Aug 4. Ziaullah submitted an application to the court alleging the chief minister had been misusing his office by interfering in the case against him. Ziaullah alleges CM influencing inquiry against him over misuse of authority
He alleged that the chief minister had been influencing the inquiry and pressuring officials asking them to testify against him. The minister had earlier levelled similar allegations against the chief minister during his previous production before the court on July 10. He had told reporters that the chief minister had implicated him in the concocted case as he had registered cases against those involved in illegal mining in Nowshera district, the hometown of Pervez Khattak. Amid tight security, Ziaullah was brought to the Federal Judicial Complex, where the ehtesab courts are situated, in an armoured personnel carrier to keep him away from media as well as his supporters, who showed up in large numbers. Additional deputy prosecutor general of the commission Barrister Qazi Babar Irshad appeared along with the suspect and requested the judge to extend his physical custody saying more investigation into the case is required. He said Ziaullah was involved in illegal posting and transfers in his department and connived with people involved in illegal mining. Moazzam Butt, lawyer for the suspect, opposed extension in his client’s physical remand saying the ehtesab commission had so far failed to produce specific charge against him. He said the minister had played his role in the registration of over 200 FIRs in Nowshera district against those involved in illegal mining. The lawyer said the KPEC was not properly constituted in line with the provisions of the KPEC Act 2014. He said the suspect could have only been arrested if he had not cooperated with the commission in the inquiry but in the case, he had fully cooperated with the relevant officials. Director general of the department Dr Liaquat Ali has already been arrested in the case, while secretary Mian Waheedudin, whose arrest warrants were issued by the commission, has got a brief relief from the court in the shape of orders for the commission against acting him for the time being. PETITION ADJOURNED: A bench of the Peshawar High Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing into a petition against Ziaullah’s detention to July 30 while directing the commission to file response to the plea. Ziaullah’s brother, Hidayatullah Afridi, had moved the petition. When the bench comprising Justice Nisar Hussain and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth began hearing, it was informed that the commission had yet not commented on the petition in writing. Deputy prosecutor general Zahid Aman requested the bench to give him time to ensure the filing of comments. He also said the petition was not maintainable as the detainee was not in illegal detention and was remanded in the custody of the commission by a court. The lawyer for petitioner, Ishtiaq Ibrahim, said the KPEC Act had been challenged on different grounds. He said there was nothing on record against the detainee and therefore, his arrest was illegal. The petitioner claimed that the file related to the illegal mining of Mamakhel mine in Nowshera district was with the National Accountability Bureau and therefore, the KPEC could not interfere in the matter as Section 35 of the KPEC Act clearly showed which agency should deal with such cases. Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196062/ehtesab-court-extends-ministers-remand
[h=2]Eatery sealed[/h] PESHAWAR: As part of its crackdown on the food outlets selling expired and substandard items the district administration, Peshawar, continued taking action and sealed KFC outlet located on the University Road here on Thursday. It also sent manager of the known Pizza Hut on Shami Road to jail for selling expired food items. However, the outlet was not sealed. The raiding team was headed by assistant commissioner Osama Ahmed Waraich. According to a statement, the action against the KFC outlet was taken for presence of expired food items and rotten vegetables there. It was stated that the crackdown on backers and restaurants was launched weeks ago and several outlets had been penalised in parts of the city and Peshawar cantonment. Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196065/eatery-se
PESHAWAR: Rejecting amendments made to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information (RTI) Act 2013, the civil society’s Coalition on RTI has demanded restoration of the status of information commission and ending exemption given to the KP Assembly and Peshawar High Court. Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Friday, Zahid Abdullah, coordinator of Coalition on RTI — a network of 30 civil society organisations working to promote citizens’ right to information in the country — said that the amendments in this law by the provincial assembly on June 23, 2015 had significantly diluted it. “The Coalition on Right to Information had appreciated it at every form as it met standards of right to information legislation, but the changes have reduced its utility,” he said. Mohammad Anwar, executive director of the Center for Governance and Public Accountability, lamented that without any debate and seeking input from the CSOs, the KP Assembly exempted itself from the purview of RTI. He said that making district courts the forum of appeal against the decisions of KP Information Commission had lowered its status. Institute of Research, Advocacy and Development’s founding director Aftab Alam said that the coalition had been demanding inclusion of the Peshawar High Court in the purview of KP RTI Act 2013. He said that instead the KP Assembly also exempted itself from the purview of the law. He asked why any public body whether it was the high court or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly should be exempted from the right to information law. He said that the PHC chief justice was not only the top judge of the province, but he also performed executive functions with regard to procurement and recruitment for the PHC. Therefore, it is a matter of principle that the citizens should have the right to know that their resources are put to use by PHC, said Mr Alam. The Coalition on RTI urged the provincial government to withdraw amendments made to the RTI Act 2013 and bring the KP Assembly and PHC within the ambit of the law. It also demanded making the PHC the forum for appeal against the decisions of KP Information Commission and to ensure that the commission consisted of the chief information commissioner and two information commissioners taken from bureaucracy, judiciary and civil society. Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196282/civil-society-wants-pa-covered-by-rti-law
PESHAWAR: By launching an effective campaign to check encroachments and the quality and prices of eatables in Peshawar, the district administration has rekindled the hopes of citizens and also revived memories of the late magistrates Abdul Baqi and Sarfaraz whose vigilance and activism had earned them tremendous respect among the citizens. As part of the ongoing drive against sale of expired items and rotten vegetables lying in the kitchens of known restaurants and departmental stores, the district administration continued its raids on Saturday. An official source said that kitchen of the sole five-star hotel in the city was also raided where rotten vegetables were found and the hotel’s manager was arrested. According to additional assistant commissioner Fawad Khan, several famous restaurants and departmental stores had been checked during the last few days where rotten vegetables, expired food items and other low quality daily use commodities were found and thus action was taken against the managers concerned. Mr Fawad said that during the campaign many restaurants and departmental stores like KFC, Pizza Hut, Jan Arcade, A to Z, Mega Mart, Hyper Mall, Avon Super Store, Tutti Fruity, Munches, etc had been checked where expired items, including edible and non-edible items, were found. Action taken against famous restaurants,departmental stores in Peshawar
Similarly, he said that condition of kitchens in several restaurants was not satisfactory. He said that some of these stores and restaurants were sealed and their managers arrested. He said that heavy fines were also imposed on them. The official said that the campaign was aimed at sensitising general public to check the expiry date before paying for a product. “The higher management of these outlets have been summoned and given timeframe to make up for the shortcomings. They have admitted their guilt and committed to rethink and reshape their standard operating procedure,” he said. Mr Fawad said that a fine of over Rs2 million had been collected during the raids. He said that after the owners’ commitments the sealed outlets were allowed to open. The action, he said, was taken under various laws, including Food Stuff Control Act 1958, Consumers Protection Act 1997, Pure Food Ordinance 1960 and Animal Slaughter Act. Regarding the hike in rates of meat, the official said that the prices would be revised soon so that exploitation of people at the hands of butchers could be stopped. He said that the prices and quality of other food items, including rice, sweets and milk, was also being checked from time to time. The prices of meat, he said, were fixed in 2010 which had not been revised till 2015 and thus the butchers started charging consumers at their free will. “Feedback from general public is encouraging and the drive will continue,” the official said. Deputy Commissioner, Peshawar, Riaz Mehsud told Dawn that the administration would also launch a drive against plastic bags which had been clogging drains and creating problems for the people. “We are working on it and would take the stakeholders into confidence before imposing Section 144 on use of the plastic bags,” the DC said and added that an ample time would be given to the people to stop sale of such bags. Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196471/robust-drive-afoot-against-outlets-selling-expired-items
PESHAWAR: Massive growth in litigation against the health department by its own employees and other people has turned out to be a major hurdle to the government’s steps to ensure speedy and effective patient care in the province. “We’re finding it extremely hard to handle the increasing number of cases against us in courts due to our weak litigation cell,” a health department official told Dawn. According to the official, around 1,700 cases of the health department are currently pending with local courts for decision. The number was 1,300 three years ago. The official said doctors, paramedics, nurses and other employees of the department felt emboldened by the department’s weakness to effectively respond to cases against it and therefore, they moved courts for relief against their postings, transfers and promotions. He said the situation had upset the people visiting hospitals for treatment as in most of such cases, employees left their workplaces to plead their cases in courts. Another official said 90 per cent of cases against the health department were about postings, transfers and promotions of employees and other administrative decisions. He said there were hardly a few cases about procurement of equipment and medicines. “The employees know the health department cannot defend its decisions in courts due to shortage of staff at its litigation cell and therefore, they challenge its action against themselves,” he said. The official said lately, a district health officer posted to Peshawar for an interim period got a stay order from the court when the health department ordered his replacement. He also said a director appointed to the Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar provisionally also got his removal stayed by moving the court. “The department has to take administrative decisions Massive litigation hampering speedy patient care as per rule of business and post or transfer its employees where their services are most needed. But most employees secure stay orders from court in case disciplinary action is taken against them. All this happens due to the health department’s inability to defend its decisions and orders in courts,” he said. The official said the department’s legal cell was headed by a section officer, who was supported by an assistant. “These two men run the whole show (on litigation front) on part of the health department,” he said. Last month, a local court had ordered halt to payment of salary to health secretary Mushtaq Jadoon over contempt in a case about stipend of any employee. When contacted, the secretary said most cases against his department were pending with services tribunals, while the rest were either with the Peshawar High Court and with the Supreme Court. “We are strengthening our litigation cell to effectively respond to cases,” he said. Jadoon said in some cases, people had challenged health reforms in courts but the department was committed to defend its stand in this respect. “Some have challenged the health department’s move to bring about changes in healthcare system citing public interest as a cause of their litigation. In fact, it is the government and the provincial assembly to take decisions in public interest,” he said. Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196475/patients-suffer-as-lawsuits-against-health-dept-growing
ESHAWAR: There is a degree of uncertainty over whether the Qaumi Watan Party will rejoin the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Contrary to all expectations that QWP would become part of the PTI-led ruling coalition in the province yet again soon after Eidul Fitr, Aftab Sherpao and Imran Khan’s parties have yet to formally sign a power-sharing agreement. The delay in this respect is causing speculations about the possible accord. Though the PTI leaders have already made it public that the QWP will soon join the coalition government, a recent statement of the ruling party, Imran Khan, has raised doubts about the matter. During a visit to the flood-hit Chitral district, the PTI chief had denied having ‘any information’ about the QWP rejoining the provincial government. Some observers feel the PTI-QWP alliance seems to be difficult in light of Imran Khan’s adverse remarks. Reacting to the PTI chief’s statement, QWP senior vice president and former provincial minister Bakht Baidar Khan said his party didn’t approach the PTI for rejoining the government. “It’s the PTI, which had offered us (QWP) to become part of its government again. We’d never asked for it,” he said. The QWP leader said his party would continue serving the people whether it was in government or in opposition. He said his defamation case against Imran Khan over corruption charge was in the court. “My sacking as the provincial minister on corruption charge was illegal,” he said. However, QWP general secretary Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli is optimistic about the QWP chances of rejoining the provincial government. “I’m hopeful about a positive response from the PTI leadership on our 12-point draft. Currently, we’re waiting for the response,” she said. Anisa Zeb said the central leadership of the two parties was to decide about the matter and that it would take time for ‘decision on solid grounds’. She said no one from the PTI had formally conveyed a ‘negative message’ to the QWP. The QWP leader said her party had completed work on the possible coalition with the PTI and therefore, it was the turn of the PTI to respond to it. The QWP had sent its 12-point draft to the central PTI leadership after approval from Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. According to reliable insiders, the QWP will get two portfolios, one of home and the other of irrigation, after rejoining the ruling coalition. They say the possible ministers of the party will be Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao and Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli. Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196478/uncertainty-surrounds-qwp-rejoining-kp-govt
PESHAWAR: The second phase of the school enrolment campaign in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will begin in September. However, the government and its partners decided to launch a door-to-door awareness campaign as early as August. The K-P government with the help of supporting organisations including UNICEF, Save the Children and Alif Ailaan had launched a province wide school enrolment campaign on April 8 hoping to place 0.8 million children in schools. However, according to the All Primary Teachers Association (APTA) provincial president, the target was not met due to a lack of interest on the part of government’s education department. A success for the govt Talking to The Express Tribune, K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Director Rafiq Khattak said the first phase of the campaign was successfully completed with 0.4 million out-of-school children enrolled across the province. “The second phase will start from Peshawar where an enrolment hub will be set up in Government Hassnain Shaheed High School and district campaigns will be run via school teachers,” he said. Khattak added the main focus of this campaign was to get children from the rural districts like Hangu, Shangla, Kohistan and Torghar to enrol since the dropout rate in those areas was very high. Unmet targets “The government failed to reach its target in the previous phase but we want to ensure that does not happen again. The focus should be on poor parents who do not send their children to school at all and the government should train teachers in this regard for this campaign,” suggested Regional Coordinator Alif Ailaan Umar Orakzai. APTA President Malik Khalid Khan told The Express Tribune, a majority of the children who drop out come from extremely low-income families where they are forced to become earning members of the household. “The parents do not realise that by not sending their children to schools, they are destroying their children’s future forever,” he added. He blamed the government for the high percentage of school dropouts, saying, “Schools lack basic facilities including the employment of qualified teachers despite a huge amount of spending by the education sector. The government had assured us of the appointment of 10,000 new teachers but has failed to fulfil this promise yet.” Published in The Express Tribune, July 27[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/926954/...phase-of-enrolment-drive-to-commence-in-fall/
PESHAWAR: The mean machines dedicated to clearing the ever-expanding provincial metropolis of illegal encroachments have been out of action for a while now. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government’s much-trumpeted initiative was stalled after the court issued a stay order against the action two months ago.
The drive was launched at the break of the new year to address Peshawar’s traffic woes and reclaim the space that once belonged to pedestrians, who used to stroll along the city’s walkways many years ago, until illegal occupants deprived them of the facility.
The encroachment drive has yet to be restarted in Gulbahar, Afridi Garhi, Yakatoot, Shaheen Muslim Town, Hussainabad, Nothia, Bala Mani, Charsadda Road and Faqirabad. While the project did achieve results early on, the drive came to a grinding halt when it came to multi-storey commercial plazas and constructions carried out by influential people. No room to zoom Khizr Khan, a resident of Gulbahar told The Express Tribune the streets that once belonged to locals have now been occupied by hawkers and stall owners. “There is hardly any space to walk freely,” he said. Khizr urged the government to restart the action and target the big fish as well. According to other residents, the district administration has not entirely demolished illegal constructions. As a result, people were able to rebuild the structures. “In most areas, the actual illegal structures have remained untouched,” said Usman Ali, another resident. “Even Gulbahar police station and the office of a local newspaper have been built illegally. Benefit of the doubt Some believe it is unfair to target the provincial government as encroachments have mushroomed in the city for many decades. Moreover, previous governments have also paid little attention to these encroachments, fearing it may adversely affect their vote banks. “Land grabbers were actually encouraged in the previous government,” said Sajid Awan, a trader. “Around 70% of commercial plazas in the city have been built in violation of building regulations.” An official of Municipal Corporation Peshawar told The Express Tribuneit is the influence of the land grabbers that prevents the government from adopting a firm stance. “When their political connections did them no good, they obtained a stay order from the court,” he said, requesting anonymity. Chief Municipal Officer Saleem Khan said the drive will be re-launched once the court vacates the stay. He admitted most of the commercial buildings were constructed in violation of laws. “The buildings that were constructed several years ago had car parks that have now been turned into shops,” he said. However, Saleem added the initiative has produced positive results as most encroachments in the city have been removed. Published in The Express Tribune, July 29[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/928221/speed-bump-slamming-the-brakes-on-the-bulldozer/
PESHAWAR: At least 25 illegally-built houses and shops, and one gas station were demolished by the district administration near Budhni nullah on Charsadda Road on Wednesday. “We are carrying out drive against encroachers without any discrimination, proving false rumours that the district administration plays favourites,” Additional DC Osama Warraich told The Express Tribune. Warraich was directed by Peshawar DC Riaz Mehsud to take action. “If the district administration can take action against lawmakers then why can’t it initiate a drive against encroachers?”
Warraich added there were 25 structures on both sides of the nullah, of which 19 were on one side of the nullah and six on the other. There were 10 shops that were razed to the ground. He said the drive against encroachment will be carried out in phases and they will demolish all illegal settlements near the nullah. With[out] consensus Answering a query, Warraich said locals were taken into confidence before the drive began. He added a day ago, on Tuesday, a meeting was held at the CM House with locals where it was decided illegal constructions would be demolished with their support. However, those living near Budhni nullah said the district administration did not inform them well before starting the drive. “The administration informed locals late at night and started demolishing the houses in the morning on Wednesday,” a local, Ali Taj Khan, told The Express Tribune. He added they will soon take the matter to court. “We have ownership transfer letters for the properties and their settlements should not have been demolished.” Ali added the administration has told them they would demolish any settlement constructed within a distance of 30 feet from the nullah. A question of legality However, District Administration Public Relations Officer Feroz Shah said all the constructions were illegal. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had directed the DC to collect rent from illegal encroachers, but no such action was taken, added Shah. He added the issue had been in court for the past five years and the drive was planned in light of court directives and decisions. During the recent floods in Budhni nullah, the CM had announced compensation would not be given to those whose houses were situated along the nullah. Published in The Express Tribune, July 30[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015.
MINGORA / CHITRAL: Wednesday brought more floods to Chitral as around 70 houses were damaged, however, no loss of human life was reported.
Heavy floods hit Lohak, Wakht and Arkari Valley in Garam Chashma around 2am. At approximately the same time, Mori Bala area was also inundated and 25 houses were partially damaged. The sudden night-time floods were a source of fear for locals who were not expecting more inclement weather. The nullah adjacent to Chitral Scouts Cantonment also overflowed early Wednesday morning. The scouts and locals both evacuated. According to eye witnesses, thousands of people had to leave their houses for safety. Since the floods started At least 48 people have died and 348 houses have been destroyed by the floods in Malakand division since mid-July. However, the government is leaving no stone unturned in helping those who have been affected. This was said by Malakand Commissioner Mehmood Aslam Wazir at Jirga Hall in Saidu Sharif in Swat on Wednesday. “Those who have been affected are being helped in every possible way by the government.” The spell of floods in the division caused the most destruction in Chitral, he said, adding at least 34 casualties were from Chitral and in infrastructural loss 80 houses were also damaged. “Initially when the floods occurred, teams of security forces in the division were dispatched to the affected areas for rescue work,” said Wazir. “Hundreds of people and animals were saved and the provincial government set up control rooms in every part of the division. At least 40 tonnes of food was also distributed among the affected people.” Losses and risks Under his supervision, said the commissioner, 12 teams have visited Chitral to estimate the losses caused by the floods. He added they were surveying the area to determine the exact losses. So far the provincial government has announced Rs0.3 million for those families who lost their loved ones to the adversity while Rs0.1 million has been allocated for those who were injured during the floods. About the damage to infrastructure, Wazir said 40 link roads along with 14 connecting bridges, nine irrigation channels and 83 water supply schemes have been destroyed by the water current. However, the commissioner said, there was no risk of floods in Swat, Dir and other districts of Malakand Division. Protection projects A handout issued on Wednesday quoted Chief Minister Pervez Khattak as saying at Nowshera Press Club that flood protect projects were being executed at a cost of over Rs8 billion in eight districts in K-P, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Dir and Swat. About the restoration of infrastructure in Chitral, he said link roads in the district will be renovated within two weeks on temporary basis while other major communication roads will take at least six months to be properly rebuilt as most of the routes, particularly those leading to Garam Chashma, Bumboret and Mastuj were washed away by the current. Published in The Express Tribune, July 30[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/928891/...forts-in-full-swing-for-flood-affected-areas/
PESHAWAR: The ruling party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, secured seven district council seats as re-polls for local government in Peshawar concluded. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PLM-N) secured three district seats while the Awami National Party and Pakistan People Party failed to secure even single seat as per initial results. According to unofficial results in the provincial capital, PTI’s Amir Naveed won by securing 175 votes in Ghari Sherdad UC-45. PTI’s Rehman Afzal was victorious by securing 137 votes in UC-30. PTI’s Naveed Barki won from Urmar Payan. PTI’s Malik Afzal secured 137 votes to win UC-27. PTI’s Usman Bashir is said to have won in UC- 16, but the results were not confirmed till the filing of this report. Read: Not un[eventful]: K-P inks LG representatives in round two of polling DRO Riaz Mehsud said results were awaited from far-flung areas, adding that re-polls had been held in at least 29 polling stations in Peshawar alone. Meanwhile PTI’s Gulab Shah succeeds by securing 791 votes in Bannu ward-16. ANP’s Bakhtiar Muhammad secured 1,563 votes in Swabi’s ward-38 and is said to be the winning candidate. Independent Ahmed Sultan from Mardan’s ward-31 won after securing 1,739 votes. http://tribune.com.pk/story/929684/pti-in-the-lead-as-local-govt-re-polls-come-to-a-close-in-k-p/
An amount of Rs180 million has been allocated for this purpose. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Culture has decided to start paying a stipend of Rs30,000 every month to artists and singers in need.
It has been decided to start the monthly stipend for poets, singers and artist who need help in their efforts pertaining to arts and culture in the province, the culture director Mehmood Khan said in a statement issued on Thursday. He added an amount of Rs180 million has been allocated for this purpose. The director said artists in the province have been severely affected by the security situation in the province and needed immediate support from the government. Initially, he said, 500 artists will be selected for the stipend and the criteria for selection will be devised at another meeting of the committee of artists, journalists as well as officials of the directorate. A large number of artists had approached the directorate previously for financial assistance. Published in The Express Tribune, July 31[SUP]st[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/929498/stipend-artists-singers-to-be-given-rs30000-per-month/
PESHAWAR / KOHAT / CHARSADDA / HANGU / KARAK / SWABI: The stage is set for performance evaluation as unofficial results for local government re-polls pour in. According to preliminary results released on Friday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has once again streaked ahead of its political rivals in Peshawar district. The party has clinched 51 district council seats. At least 25 seats were secured by independent candidates, 14 by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and nine by Awami National Party. Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami and Qaumi Watan Party have won three district councils. PTI has also secured 25 tehsil council seats. At least 27 seats have been clinched by independent candidates, 15 by JUI-F, 11 by ANP, four by QWP and three by PPP. Swabi In Swabi district, ANP has come to the fore as a prominent party after LG re-polling was completed at 17 polling stations of nine union councils. Swabi has in total 56 union councils. The party bagged 24 district council seats. PTI managed to clinch 10 while JUI-F, Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan, QWP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz won seven, five, three, and two seats each. On the other hand, JI and PPP managed to clinch one seat each. Three independent candidates also bagged district council seat. ANP won two council seats of Swabi tehsil. PTI and JI bagged four each while PPP, JUI-F, PML-N and an independent candidate won one each. PTI secure eight seats of the total 11 of Topi tehsil while PML-N and JUI-F took two and one seat, respectively. In Chota Lahor tehsil, out of 11 seats, PTI secured four while ANP, JUI-F and PML-N bagged three, two and two seats respectively. ANP has secured 10 out of 20 tehsil council seats in Razar. AJIP bagged four, PTI three while JUI-F, JI and PPP gained one seat each. Hangu JUI-F was in the lead in Hangu district with eight district council seats. According to the unofficial result, PTI clinched seven. Meanwhile, in Tall tehsil, JUI-F won six seats, PTI gained two and an independent candidate secured one. There were 10 total seats in Hangu tehsil council. JUI-F took five, PTI three, and ANP and an independent took one each in the tehsil council. Kohat Supporters of independent candidate Ishraq Khan took to the streets of Kohat and accused the administration of altering election results. Ishraq had been deemed successful in Dheri Bandha polling stations in Kharmato union council a day earlier. According to protesters, Thursday night’s results indicated the independent candidate had 2,095 votes while his opponents had 2,060. However, the results were altered in his opponent’s the following morning. Charsadda As per unofficial results, QWP, PTI and JI are likely to form the government in districts and two tehsils of Charsadda. Overall, QWP, PTI and JI have bagged 25 seats in 49 union councils, while ANP and JUI-F and PPP have clinched 23. One seat remains disputed among PTI and QWP. Karak Re-polling at a polling station in Girls High School Khurram in Nari Panoos union council of Karak did not take place owing to a stay order from the court. PTI candidate Fahim Khattak, who had won the May 30 elections from the union council, had approached the court for a stay order against re-polls. Khattak deemed re-polling illogical at the polling station. Residents believe Khattak allegedly took this step because his chances for winning the re-polls appeared slim. According to unofficial results from polling stations where voting did take place in Karak, PTI won seven district council seats, while JUI-F and ANP won five and one, respectively. On the tehsil level, PTI has won three seats while independent candidates and JUI-F bagged two each. PML-N and JI clinched one seat each. Published in The Express Tribune, August 1[SUP]st[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/930166/...ults-pti-takes-the-lead-in-peshawar-district/
PESHAWAR: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KPCCI) have agreed to initiate joint efforts to promote trade, business and industrial activities in the region as well as to ensure the involvement of private sector.
The decision was made at a meeting held at KPCCI on July 31 that lasted for more than an hour where representatives from both parties discussed economic issues pertaining to K-P, tribal areas and the neighbouring Afghanistan. The UNDP was represented by Edward Rees while KPCCI Senior Vice President Engineer Maqsood Pervez and Vice President Haji Iqbal Afridi were also present on the occasion. KPCCI representatives believed that industrialists and businessmen of the region are willing to contribute and cooperate and the only thing that is missing is encouragement from the government. They expressed pleasure over the UNDP’s involvement as it would stimulate trade and business and also generate employment opportunities for thousands. “For a year and a half, terrorism and militancy have plagued K-P and the tribal belt,” Rees said, adding, “as if its location had not already disadvantaged the region.” He briefed the KPCCI office-bearers about UNDP efforts and strategies for the promotion of economic and industrial activity universally, and particularly in Pakistan. He stated that the UN will help with capacity-building of entrepreneurs, skill development of labourers and also assist in resolving other problems. Talking to The Express Tribune, Rees said, “We will fund the early design and then find investors for the remaining collaboration. Within 100 days, we will work the financial assistance out. Published in The Express Tribune, August 2[SUP]nd[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/930652/towards-prosperity-undp-kpcci-join-hands-to-promote-trade/
PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa health department issued directives to administrations of three teaching hospitals in the provincial capital to immediately establish isolation wards for Congo virus patients. The directions were issued following the influx of virus carriers, seeking medical assistance at health facilities in the city. Most of these patients had arrived at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC). HMC administration had allocated four private rooms for treating patients suffering from Congo virus. However, since no precautionary measures had been taken, health officials feared the virus could spread and infect others, including medics who were treating these patients. Other hospitals like Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) also lack the facility. Secretary for Health Mushtaq Jadoon ordered managements of LRH, KTH and HMC to designate wards for Congo virus patients and adopt all required safety measures to prevent the virus from spreading. 20 suspected Congo virus carriers have been registered in the last seven months. Blood samples of 18 were obtained. Laboratory reports showed nine as positive; six of those have already died. Recently Moed Khan, a 16-year old Afghan national, died at HMC whereas Hidayat and Saeeda Bibi from Jalalabad, Afghanistan are still being provided medical assistance at the facility. “Two people arrived from within the provincial capital to Hayatabad Medical Complex, whereas the rest were Afghan nationals,” a senior health official told The Express Tribune. Published in The Express Tribune, August 3[SUP]rd[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/931188/...-directs-hospitals-to-set-up-isolation-wards/
PESHAWAR: Peshawar has once again become the city of flowers – this time, figuratively rather than literally.
The city’s walls, which were once drab and lacked colour, are now splattered with paintings of flowers. The credit goes to a group of young people who decided to take matters into their own hands and revamped the condition of walls and streets in the metropolis. The group has pioneered the Wadaan project under which it has used art as its weapon of choice. “Wadaan is a Pashto word which means growth,” Bahram Khan, a law student who currently heads the project told The Express Tribune. “The group comprises 20 members who are putting their heart and soul into beautifying Peshawar.” How it happened According to Bahram, one of the group’s members, Omar Naseem, is the brains behind the initiative which began little over a year ago. “Initially, we began by distributing items among the underprivileged sections of society,” he said. “However, in July, we decided to try something different. We painted the walls of the city before the local government re-polls.” The project was initiated on University Road. “We started painting the walls in the locality right after the LG elections on May 30,” Bahram said. “At that time, the walls of Peshawar were dotted with posters of candidates. We scrubbed the walls and removed the posters.” After this, the group polished the walls and used them as a canvas to produce invigorating and thought-provoking art.
Walls of Khyber Teaching Hospital before and after the makeover. PHOTOS: BAHRAM KHAN
“In hindsight, it has been one of the most rewarding experiences,” he says. “All of us want to give back to the city and our people.” What the future holds According to Bahram, the group plans to broaden the scope of its activities and is enthusiastic about its future prospects. “We have received appreciation for our work,” he said. “As a result, we were asked to paint the walls of Khyber Teaching Hospital and give them a unique look. Now, the walls are more colourful.” Bahram added Wasif Shinwari, another member of the group, is a gifted artist who has helped add life to these paintings. “The group has produced images on a variety of themes,” he said. “Although we focus on floral art, we have also tried to reproduce techniques used in truck art to add richness to the walls.” Bahram said the government has not actively supported their group in any way.
“Nevertheless, I continue to seek support from the government,” he said. “One of our upcoming projects involves planting trees across the city and the government will need to assist us in this regard.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3[SUP]rd[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/931150/a-new-look-volunteers-add-lustre-to-citys-drab-walls/
Though the condition of graduation is no longer in place for contesting election to the national and provincial assemblies, it continues to affect lawmakers who had in past either submitted forged degree or acquired a university degree through impersonation. On July 23 a two-year long legal battle culminated with the disqualification of Jamaat-i-Islami MPA Malik Behram Khan, by an election tribunal in Peshawar. The tribunal presided over by Shah Jee Rehman accepted an election petition filed by the rival candidate, Sahibzada Sanaullah of Pakistan Peoples Party. The tribunal has ordered re-election in his constituency PK-93, Upper Dir-III. Mr Behram had acquired his graduation degree through impersonation as someone else had appeared in his place in the examination. Although, the condition of graduation was not applicable in the 2013 general elections, he was disqualified on the ground that as he had acquired degree through impersonation he was not ‘Sadiq and Amin’ (righteous and honest) in terms of Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution dealing with qualification and disqualification of a lawmaker. Mr Behram had applied for graduation degree before 2008 general elections in which the condition of graduation was applicable. However, as Jamaat-i-Islami boycotted those polls he did not turn up to receive the degree. During general elections of 2013 his nomination papers were rejected by the returning officer concerned, but he was allowed by the Peshawar High Court to contest polls. When he got elected as MPA the rival candidate filed an election petition on the ground that as he had impersonated he was not qualified to contest polls. However, last year the election tribunal dismissed the petition. Subsequently, the petitioner filed an appeal before the Supreme Court. In the meantime the University of Malakand conducted an inquiry and cancelled degree of Mr Behram on the ground of impersonation observing that different persons had appeared instead of him in graduation part-1 and part-2 examinations in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He then moved the Peshawar High Court at Swat (Darul Qaza) which upheld the cancellation of his degree on April 10, 2015. He then filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, which dismissed it and remanded the election petition back to the tribunal with the direction to decide it in the light of the new developments in the case. http://www.dawn.com/news/1196604/view-from-the-courtroom-degree-issue-continues-to-haunt-lawmakers
PESHAWAR: The poor patients will receive free healthcare services in the morning and those paying for the services will be seen in afternoon by the doctors under the institution-based practice (IBP), to be launched in consonance with Medical Teaching Institution Reforms Law, 2015 at the four teaching hospitals of the province from mid-September. The IBP had earlier been planned from August 1 but it was deferred due to summer vocation of the consultants and improvement of infrastructure and homework, sources said. “The IBP will different from the one started in teaching hospitals in 2002. The private and poor patients will be kept separate time-wise and bed-wise,” sources said. In the 10-member board’s meeting held on Saturday, it was decided that private patients would be examined in IBP after 5pm while the poor would get facilities in the morning shift at Lady Reading Hospital, the province’s biggest hospital. PTI chief Imran Khan, whose party rules the province, is pushing hard the new system at the four teaching hospitals. His cousin Dr Nowsherwan Burki, the architect of the new system in LRH, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad, shuttles between the US and Pakistan to make things happen. Poor patients will get free health service in the morning while private patients will be seen by doctors in afternoon
“Dr Burki is showing more flexibility to convince the doctors and other staff to stop opposition to the new system,” sources said. The same would be applicable to other hospitals, too, they added. The members of Board of Governors, including former secretary health Saleem Khan Jhagra, Dr Abdul Bari, head of the Indus Foundation, and others said that the move was aimed at mixing private and public patients, time-wise and bed-wise. It would result in poor patients being coerced into registering as private or would suffer from endless waiting lists, as had happened in the past, they added. Sources said that the proposed system had also failed in cardiovascular department of LRH presently owing to long waiting lists extending to 2017. The same patient, registering in IBP, avails fast-tracked services and gets operated within days. Private patients would hamper the treatment of poor as they would be dealt with separately, according to sources. The IBP launched in the province some 17 years ago, backfired because of mixing paying and non-paying patients that led to ill-treatment of the non-paying ones. “This time, the BoG is implementing IBP in a way that rich patients don’t infringe upon the rights of the poor people,” sources said. “The BoG of LRH is getting Rs806 million to upgrade facilities, purchase equipment, provide furniture and improve infrastructure at the hospital,” they said. Earlier, the BoG of LRH, headed by Dr Burki, had decided that consultants would see the paying and free patients throughout working hours but following arguments by the members, it was decided that doctors would examine poor patients in the morning shift from 9am to 4pm while those, who could pay, would be seen by consultants in the second shift. The private patients will be kept separate from public patients and staff and doctors would get enhanced salaries. A professor, who receives Rs125,000 currently, will get Rs350,000, an associate professor will get Rs300,000, assistant professor Rs250,000 and senior registrar will get Rs20,000 if they opt for IBP. They will be required to give up their private practice. The architect of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Hospital, Lahore and under-construction SKMCH& RC Peshawar, is under tremendous pressure from Imran Khan to make things happen. He wants the system to benefit the patients by giving incentives to the staff and start the system as soon as possible. Contrary to the present system, under which consultants control beds in a ward, a bed management system will be adopted wherein consultants will have no authority. Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196627/te...rs-start-institution-based-practice-from-sept
[h=1]KP yet to approve rules of business for local govts[/h] PESHAWAR: The stage is set for the formation of district and tehsil councils and subsequent implementation of the three-tier local government system, however, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is yet to approve rules of business for its functioning. The formation of district and tehsil/town councils is due soon after re-polling in 14 districts scheduled for July 30. The Election Commission of Pakistan has already issued schedule of filling reserved seats for women, youths, peasants and minorities in the district and tehsil/town councils and the process would be completed on August 2. “A confusion would prevail if the provincial government fails to notify the proposed rules of business prior to implementation of the three-tier local government system,” an expert on local government system told Dawn. He said that without rules of business, no government could function. Every government whether federal or provincial was functioning under certain rules, he added. The expert said that rules of business would define role and power of local government system as everything had not been mentioned in details in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013. “These are rules of business, which tell you as to who is responsible to whom. These also explain that how someone will work in the system,” he said. The rules of business also defined working relationship which should be notified prior to the first meeting of district and tehsil councils, he added. [h=4]Minister says summary sent to chief minister for final approval[/h]The expert said provincial and the local governments would have been really in trouble in absence of rules of business if implementation of the three-tier system was not delayed owing to violence and mismanagement during local bodies’ polls. Sources said that local government department had prepared the proposed rules of business after thorough deliberations and consultations with all stakeholders because it was an important legal document. “The provincial law department has also vetted the proposed rules of business,” they added. Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan told Dawn that he had approved the summary for the rules of business one and half month ago and sent it to chief minister for final approval. “Now the rules of business are lying on the table of chief minister. It would be notified after his signature on the summary,” the minister said. Sub-section 4 of section 5 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013 states: “Government shall prescribe rules of business for local governments notifying structure and working of local government administration, groups of offices, allocation of business, appointment, posting, promotion and transfer of officers and officials, performance evaluation, channels of communication, coordination of local council business, consultation between offices and incidental matters for smooth and efficient disposal of official business.” Under the new local government system, 24 departments including education, health, social welfare, sports and culture, revenue and estate, agriculture and livestock would be devolved to districts. The local governments will be formed at district, tehsil and village/neighbourhood level after re-polling in 14 districts while elections in 10 districts have already conducted successfully. Around 42,000 elected people would start functioning once the election process is completed. Besides district and tehsil councils, under the new local government system, the rural areas have been divided into village councils while urban areas in neighbourhood councils. Each village/neighbourhood council consists of 10 to 15 seats in accordance with its population. Each village and neighbourhood council consists of 2,000 to 10,000 people. “The local government law introduced in 2001 by the then government of retired General Pervez Musharraf was more elaborate as it was consisting of 250 sections while the existing law is condensed having 123 sections,” an expert on local government system said. Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196826/kp-yet-to-approve-rules-of-business-for-local-govts
[h=1]Ehtesab Commission files reference against Ziaullah[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) on Monday filed a reference with an ehtesab court against provincial minister for mines and mineral development Ziaullah Afridi and three officers of the department over the alleged misuse of power for illegal appointments, transfers and postings. The reference was filed with ehtesab judge Hayat Ali Shah by additional deputy prosecutor general Barrister Qazi Babar Irshad, who insisted the four suspects had misused their office by carrying out around 90 illegal appointments, postings and transfers in the department. Apart from Ziaullah Afridi, the three other suspects in the case are mines and mineral development department secretary Mian Waheeduddin, director general Dr Liaquat Ali and administrator Mir Zaman. Except Mian Waheeduddin, all suspects have been arrested by the commission. Ziaullah has been in custody of the commission and will be produced before the ehtesab court on Aug 4. [h=4]Mines minister, three officials face charge of misuse of power for illegal appointments, transfers and postings[/h]Dr Liaquat and Mir Zaman were produced before the ehtesab judge on Monday after completion of their physical remand and were sent to judicial lock-up by the court. A petition of Mian Waheeduddin against the KPEC Act 2014 as well as the commission’s inquiry against him has been pending with the Peshawar High Court. For the time being, the court has stopped the commission from proceeding against the petitioner. Barrister Babar Irshad told Dawn that the commission had been probing several other issues related to suspects, including those facing the charge of illegal mining in different areas. He said if the charges proved against suspects, then separate other references would be submitted against them. The additional deputy prosecutor general said the court would later decide about the schedule of initial hearing into the reference. EX-MINISTER SENT TO JAIL: An accountability court on Monday sent former provincial minister Nawabzada Mehmood Zeb and nine other officials to prison after completion of their physical remand with the National Accountability Bureau in a case of misuse of authority during the award of lucrative mining contract to a female schoolteacher. The NAB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, alleged that as a minister for technical education, industries and mineral department in the previous provincial government, Mehmood Zeb, a PPP leader, had misused his authority in connivance with nine other people for the illegal allotment of 500 acres of proven deposit of phosphate to a female schoolteacher, Rukhsana Javed. It added that the allottee later illegally excavated phosphate in collaboration with the first cousin of the minister, Ehtishamul Mulk, causing a loss of Rs360 million to the national exchequer. The other nine arrested suspects are then secretary technical education and minerals Shah Wali Khan; then additional secretary of the department Asmatullah Khan Ghandapur, presently serving as commissioner Bannu division; section officer Farhad Ali; deputy director of the department Khan Badshah; geologist at the directorate of mines and minerals Nauroze Khan; senior inspector of mines presently serving as commissioner mines Ziarat Khan; then director licensing of minerals department Shakirullah; assistant director (litigation) of mineral department Pervaiz Khan, and assistant director Ehtishamul Mulk. A NAB prosecutor produced before the court 10 suspects, who were arrested on July 9, after completion of their physical remand. He asked the court for their further remand to complete investigation into the case. The court declined the plea and sent suspects to the Peshawar Central Prison on judicial remand. Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196849/ehtesab-commission-files-reference-against-ziaullah
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Monday said structures, including residential quarters, constructed along the banks of Budhni Nullah in Peshawar would be removed to avoid the threat of floods in future. He also announced that the government would not compensate for damages the people, who had illegally built properties along the banks of rivers, streams and nullahs. The chief minister made the announcement during a visit to Budhni Nullah, which was in high flood after torrential rains on Sunday. The flooding of the nullah had inundated several residential colonies and submerged roads. Two boys and a girl were killed in rain-related incidents in Peshawar. The officials concerned said water level in Budhni Nullah had gone down now and affected families had started returning to their homes. Around 80 families were evacuated from affected localities along the Nullah after surge in water level. The chief minister told reporters after visiting the flood-hit localities that a plan had been prepared to remove encroachment from the banks of the nullah. He said action would be taken against encroachers across the board. “The people, who encroached on the banks of nullah, were given notices on Monday but they did not vacate houses so the government will now take legal action,” he said. Khattak said the district government would begin operation against encroachments in the city soon. He said he had spent three days in Chitral district along with chief secretary, secretaries and other senior officers, and supervised relief activities in the calamity-hit areas. The chief minister said relief items provided by the federal and provincial governments were being transported to the devastated areas in Chitral by helicopter. He said representatives of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Rescue 1122 and district management along with senior officials of all departments were busy with relief activities in Chitral. To a question regarding reconstruction phase in Chitral, Khattak said the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) had been tasked with reconstructing and rehabilitating the rain-affected structures and that funds had already been released for the purpose. Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015
[h=1]Four arrested for misusing funds[/h]PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission on Monday arrested four persons, including three officials of provincial social welfare department, on charges of misappropriation of funds in purchase of sewing machines and tricycles. An official of the commission told Dawn that the arrested persons would be produced before an Ehtesab court today (Tuesday) for getting their physical remand. The suspects were identified as an assistant director (administration), Nisar Mohammad, a former assistant director Afsar Khan, a district social welfare officer at Lakki Marwat, Insafur Rehman, and a contractor Wali Khan. The official claimed that the accused were members of a purchase committee which had ordered purchase of sewing machines and tricycles to the tune of Rs15 million. He alleged they had awarded contracts to their blue-eyed contractors without fulfilling codal formalities. Furthermore, he alleged the accused had distributed those items on political basis. Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196830/four-arrested-for-misusing-funds
PESHAWAR: The district administration on Monday sealed two restaurants in Peshawar cantonment and arrested their managers for selling substandard and expired food items. A raiding team headed by additional assistant commissioner Altaf Hussain sealed a known Chinese restaurant ‘Hong Kong’ and arrested two people, including its manager. A spokesman for the district administration said the action was taken following an SMS sent to deputy commissioner Riaz Khan Mehsud about sale of substandard and expired food items in the restaurant. The restaurant is located on the Mall Road. The condition of the kitchen of the restaurant was also unsatisfactory. Similarly, another team headed by additional deputy commissioner Osama Ahmed Waraich raided a restaurant ‘Jani Kone’ and recovered substandard and expired food items from there. The eatery was sealed and its manager was arrested. It is to be mentioned here that the Jani Kone is owned by Arif Yousuf, an adviser to the chief minister. Meanwhile, another official said the restaurants and departmental stores sealed during the past some days had been allowed to reopen as they paid the fine and assured the administration to rethink their standard operating procedures and maintain quality of food items. The official said the raids on eateries and departmental stores would continue to ensure sale of quality food and other items of daily use. Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1196834/2-restaurants-sealed-managers-arrested
PESHAWAR: A local ehtesab court on Tuesday remanded four suspects, including a serving and two former officials of social welfare department, into the custody of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission for eight days in a case of misappropriation of funds during the purchase of goods for destitute and disabled people in 2009-10. Judge Hayat Ali Shah ordered the production of the four suspects in the court on Aug 4. He also asked the commission’s officials to conduct medical examination of suspects. Four face charge of embezzling funds during purchase of goods for the destitute
The suspects, including district social welfare officer in Lakki Marwat Insafur Rehman, former assistant director (administration) Nisar Mohammad, former assistant director (budget and accounts) Afsar Khan and contractor Wali Khan, were taken into custody by the commission on Monday. Additional deputy prosecutor general Lajbar Khan and deputy director (investigation) of the commission Saleh Mohammad Khan appeared before the court along with suspects and said there were solid evidence against the arrested men of connivance with each other while misappropriating funds during the award of contract for the purchase of sewing machines, tricycles and wheel chairs for the destitute and disabled people. They alleged that purchases were made to the tune of Rs 0 million in a dubious manner and that contracts were awarded to fictitious firms. The lawyers for the suspects opposed the grant of custody to the commission and said legal requirements were not fulfilled before the arrest of their clients. The lawyer for Afsar Khan said his client had a heart problem and that he was falsely implicated in the case. The commission claims the suspects had made advertisement for purchase of the said items without securing the mandatory approval of the Provincial Council for Social Welfare. An official of the commission said the three official suspects were members of the relevant purchase committee. He said a vague advertisement was published in newspapers to deceive the firms concerned as that neither the advertisement carried the number of items required nor did it mention the amount earmarked for purchases. The official said contracts were given to fictitious firms, including Niaz Enterprises of suspect Wali Khan. He said instead of the lowest bidders, contracts were awarded to the firms, which existed on paper only. The official said the relevant stock register was not available in which details of the items received as well as their recipients were to be mentioned. Several officers of the social welfare department have been arrested by the commission on different charges, including those of illegal appointments and misappropriation of funds. The cases are mostly related to the previous coalition government of ANP and PPP. Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197051/ehtesab-commission-secures-custody-of-corruption-suspects
ESHAWAR: The government is incorporating amendment to the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms (MTIR) Law to create more competitive environment among the candidates for the posts of medical directors of the four teaching hospitals where the law is being implemented. Under the MTIR, the medical director was a non-practicing position due to which the professors, who were eligible, couldn’t apply for the post. The government wants to attract more people and make better selection of a person, who will spearhead the government’s agenda of reforms in patients’ care. There has been a delay of five months in appointment of medical directors at these hospitals due to which the reform process is yet to take off fully. The medical directors will run their respective institutions, including Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad upon the advice of 10-member Board of Governors. Govt wants to attract more candidates for key posts at hospitals and make better selection
Only LRH has advertised the post of medical director and short-listed three out of 34 candidates for interview. However, it has re-advertised the post following approval of proposed amendments by the government. Under the amendment, there will be no bar on the private medical practice of the candidate. More people will apply as earlier there was a condition that only non-practicing doctors were eligible for recruitment, sources said. The medical directors would ensure clinical audit at the teaching hospitals to provide effective care to the patients for which people with high managerial and clinical skills, besides research papers and other studies to their credit, would be appointed, sources said. The whole edifices of the new system depended on good medical directors, they said. The senior consultants, who have so far backed the reforms initiated by government in healthcare system, told this correspondent that lack of proper management was basic reason that had crumbled the system in the past. It was due to ill-management at the higher level that available resources couldn’t be utilised for the benefit of the patients, they said. They argue that despite huge infrastructure and human resources, the 70-year-old system failed to cope with the issues of patients. They say that they want implementation of the new law at the earliest. The law seeks complete overhaul of hospitals immediately and nine district headquarters hospitals later. A physician says that failure of the teaching hospitals is evident from the statistics. He says that the 1,500-bed KTH receives Rs1billion from government every year and it did 31,000 surgeries in 2014 whereas Indus Hospital, a Karachi-based charity, operated on 45,000 people the same year, spending Rs1billion. “We need to combine clinical and human resources,” he adds. Sources say that criteria to run for the post was three year experience as head of ward and more former professors in the teaching hospitals, who retired recently, could apply for it. There are some indications that people, who served in the past on top positions at these hospitals, can get the slots by virtue of their qualifications but the government will then face criticism as to why these people are appointed who have headed these institutions in the past. However, sources say that the professors, who worked on those important positions in the past, weren’t independent of the government’s influence as they would follow the new system under which they could perform. They would be accountable to only governing body, which consists of professionals with integrity, but before enforcement of the new law they were under the purview of the health department. Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197054/amended-health-law-to-create-competitive-environment
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced it will soon execute the plan to rehabilitate the children affected by disasters both manmade and natural in the province. It will also do a situation analysis on street children in three districts, including Peshawar, Mardan and Abbottabad, and establish a ‘transit centre’ in Peshawar for the rehabilitation and psycho-social support of such minors. The announcement was made by adviser to the chief minister on social welfare Dr Mehar Taj Roghani during the ‘guest hour programme’ of the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday. Officials of the social welfare department and Peshawar Press Club president Syed Bukhar Shah Bacha also shared opinion on the matter. The adviser to the chief minister said the government had approved a scheme ‘Zomong Kor’ (our home) for the current financial year 2015-16. “A total of 200 flats at Nasapa area on Charsadda Road will be handed over to the social welfare department to accommodate 500 to 1,000 street children. The department will take all possible steps for the education and vocational training of street children,” she said. Dr Mehar Taj said legislation was underway on the rights of women, children, acid throwing control, and women and girls’ trafficking. CM adviser Dr Mehar says situation analysis on street children in three districts is also on the cards
She said very few people knew about the role of the social welfare department, which had to do a lot of work with the limited available resources. “Being a doctor, my priority and focus of interest is special persons because disability in the province is 10-15 percent of the total population. Rough estimates put the number of the people with disabilities at 1.2 million,” she said. The adviser to the chief minister said the social welfare department ran a total of 39 educational institutions in the province for special children and 3,700 such children were taught there, whereas a big number of special children was out of schools. She said the demand for Braille printing press, books and other equipment for special people was under process and that the government had allocated Rs10 million for providing speaking laptops to children. Dr Mehar Taj said most of the special persons were very poor, which could be judged from the fact that applications were invited for financial assistance of Rs5,000 and 25,000 people had applied, so the department had to have a computerised draw for the purpose. She said work on a scheme ‘centre of excellence’ had begun wherein screening of special children would be done under one roof. “Currently, the visually challenged, hearing-impaired, mentally retarded and physically handicapped persons had to go from door to door for their rehabilitation,” she said. The adviser to the chief minister said the government would ensure special seats and other facilities for special persons in public transport vehicles, shopping malls, offices, public parks, educational institutions and press clubs, while all public and private places would have special toilets for them. She said she had already directed the Peshawar Development Authority to implement the government’s decisions in that respect. Dr Mehar Taj said 11 percent of the people in the province were drug addicts, including children aged 8-9 years. She said only the social welfare department could not overcome the situation because it had only six drug rehabilitation centres, wherein and each hospital had 10 beds for detoxification. The adviser to the chief minister said Rs150 million had been allocated for the rehabilitation of addicts and that the money would be spent through an NGO, Dost Welfare Foundation. She said in light of the vulnerability of women, the government wanted to have a reconciliation committee to resolve petty issues in order to reduce load on Darul Aman. Dr Mehar Taj said new Darul Amans were required in various districts. She urged media to effectively play its role for public awareness of the rights of women and children against violence and for the women’s empowerment. Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197249/govt-plans-rehabilitation-of-disaster-affected-children
PESHAWAR: The district administration on Wednesday demolished most of the encroachments on both sides of Budhni nullah that caused flooding in Peshawar suburbs a few days ago. The demolition of 24 houses and a CNG station besides two mosques located adjacent to the Budhni nullah started in the morning and continued till night, spokesman for the district administration, Feroz Shah, told Dawn. Around 70 per cent of the encroachments have been removed while the remaining would be demolished on Thursday (today), he said. Deputy commissioner Riaz Mehsud, additional deputy commissioner Osama Waraich, superintendent engineer Mohammad Shabbir and other officers of the district administration and irrigation department were present at the site during the clearance work. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Mehsud said that the entire process of demolition and removal of debris would be completed within two days. He said that afterwards a wall would be constructed on both sides of the nullah to protect the population from floods in future. The DC said that estimated Rs780 million would be spent on the restoration of Budhni nullah to its original shape which included de-siltation, etc. The provincial government has already approved a plan for the rehabilitation of Budhni nullah after recent floods that inundated houses in nearby areas. The rehabilitation process would protect the surrounding populations from floodwater. The plan was approved on Tuesday during a high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. The decision of removing encroachments on nullah was also taken in the same meeting which was quickly implemented by the district administration and irrigation department. Under the plan, protection wall will be constructed on both sides of the watercourse besides widening its bed and expediting pace of work on two bridges being constructed on the nullah. Talking to Dawn, the deputy commissioner said that the provincial government had demarcated the encroached land of the irrigation department in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2014. “After every demarcation the residents were issued notices to vacate the land,” said Mr Mehsud. He said that recently another demarcation of the government land was done through a committee that comprised officials of the irrigation and revenue departments and five persons of the local community. The deputy commissioner said that up to 45 feet encroachment on the right bank and 30 feet on the left side of 24.56 kilometres Budhni nullah had been identified during the recent demarcation. Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197254/drive-against-encroachments-underway-near-budhni-nullah
PESHWAR: The capital city police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested three kidnappers and recovered an abducted person from their captivity. Addressing a press conference, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Hayatabad, Atiq Shah said a complainant, Yousaf of Jamrud Road, Peshawar, had on May 21 lodged a report with the Hayatabad police about kidnapping of his brother, Khizar Hayat. Yousaf told police that Khizar Hayat, who drove a cab, was hired by four persons for Lahore on April 2. Later, he said the accused Sadiq Shah, Mohammad Shah and others abducted Hayat, and demanded Rs1.6 million ransom. The DSP said police following thorough investigations arrested Syed Ahmed Shah, Syed Idress Shah and Burhanuddin, residents of Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency at Karkhano checkpost and recovered the kidnapped man from them. He said the accused were shifting Khizar to Khyber Agency, adding that police would soon arrest their other accomplices. Separately, Gulbahar police also claimed to have arrested two members of a car lifter gang and recovered two stolen cars and two bikes from them. ASP Gulbahar Malik Imran Ahmed told reporters that police raided a hideout in Choha Gujar area of Peshawar city and arrested two alleged car thieves identified as Mohammad Rehman and Mohmmad Asif, and recovered two cars and two motorcycles from them. Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197305/three-kidnappers-arrested-victim-recovered
FATEHJANG: The training programme for newly appointed teachers was inaugurated by executive district officer (education) Attock Qazi Zahoor Hussain at Government Boys High School No. 2 on Wednesday. The educators (male and female) employed in BPS 9, 14 and 16 from district Attock and Rawalpindi district will participate in the training programme which will continue till August 22. The teachers were appointed on ad hoc basis but they will be regularised from the date of their appointment. The senior teachers including Doctor Qazi Tariq Mahmood and Malik Mohammad Maskeen will supervise the programme. Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197310/teachers-training-programme
PESHAWAR: No incident of mismanagement or violence was reported as re-polling for local governments took place at 360 polling stations in 14 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday amid tight security by the police and the army. Polling at these stations was either stopped on May 30 (the LG election day) or declared void by the relevant returning officers due to violent disturbance and poor management. Journalists were denied access to polling stations to cover the electoral process. The media had highlighted mismanagement and disorder inside polling stations during the May 30 local body elections. High voter turnout in rural areas, low in urban localities
The barring of media from covering re-polling drew criticism from politicians, candidates and civil society activists, who insisted the move was made to hide the alleged rigging by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and incompetence of the Election Commission of Pakistan. In view of the massive mismanagement and unruliness on May 30, heavy deployment of police and army was seen at and around polling stations. The police and army personnel bodysearched voters three to four times before they reached polling booth to ballot. The voter turnout in rural areas was high but in urban areas, voters didn’t go to polling stations in large numbers possibly because the government didn’t declare a public holiday for re-polling. The political parties and independent candidates had established camps at a distance from polling stations. During a visit to the Hazarkhwani II ward, a long queue of voters was seen outside the polling station despite scorching heat. “I have come to the polling station at 7am and cast vote at 12:30pm,” one of the voters told Dawn. He said normally, the casting of vote took five to six minutes but due to presence of a large number of voters, it took five hours for him to reach ballot box. A candidates told Dawn that the process of casting ballot was a bit fast compared to the previous election day. He said by 11am, 160 votes were polled in one of booths. The presence of voters was thin at the two separate polling stations set up in Bhana Mari area. “I cast my vote in 10 minutes,” a voter said outside the Ghala Godam polling station. At the polling station established at the Government Primary School, Bahana Mari, the number of police and army personnel was higher than women voters. The people in some areas complained they faced problems in reaching polling stations as security officials closed nearby roads and streets. The police and ECP officials arrested several people in different areas for having fake ballot papers. Cases were registered in the respective police stations against them. JUI-F Peshawar district chief Maulana Khairul Bashar said keeping the media away from the polling station was tantamount to rigging by the provincial government. “Actually, the government wanted to hide everything happening inside the polling station,” he said. The JUI-F leader alleged the ECP officials spoiled votes polled to the candidates of political parties other than PTI by stamping at other symbols. Pakistan People’s Party leader Zulfiqar Afghani told Dawn that majority of voters couldn’t exercise their constitutional right of vote because the government had not declared a public holiday for the day of re-polling. “We have reports that bundles of fake ballot papers reached Peshawar city to rig elections,” he said. During the re-polling, the PPP leader said security situation was good and satisfactory, while the transparency of elections was doubtful as journalists were not allowed to observe the polling process. Earlier, the ECP had announced re-polling on July 5 but on July 3, the Peshawar High Court stayed it for several reasons. In the May 30 polling, the PTI had done better than other political parties by winning 256 of the total of 978 district council seats. The ruling party was followed by the Awami National Party with 106 district council seats. According to the ECP, the re-polling took place at 88 polling stations in Nowshera, 70 in Karak, 45 in Charsadda, 42 in Mardan, 30 in Bannu, 29 in Peshawar, 17 in Swabi, eight in Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan each, seven in Abbottabad, six in Mansehra, five in Kohat, four in Hangu and one in Buner district. In Lakki Marwat, re-polling occurred at eight polling stations of four wards of the district amid tight security. Heavy contingent of the police and Pakistan Army were deployed in and around polling stations to maintain peace and avert any eventuality. No untoward incident was reported in the district. Besides providing power generators for polling staff at polling stations, the local administration also set up tents for voters outside polling stations. In Mardan, re-polling for local bodies took place at 42 polling stations in 10 union councils of the district peacefully. Deputy Commissioner Shahidullah Khan had banned the assembly of five or more people at a place by imposing Section 144 across the district to maintain law and order. According to unofficial results, PTI district council candidate Abdus Sattar won the elections in Muhib Banda union council by getting 2,098 votes against his rival, Hazrat Ali of JUI-F, who secured 1,371 votes. In Maday Baba union council, independent candidate Abdur Rehman obtained 2,326 votes by defeating rival Shah Hussain of JUI-F, who obtained 1,545 votes. In Charsadda, re-polling was held in 15 union councils of the total 46 union council peacefully. Four women were caught with 76 fake ballot papers at Punjpao union council polling station. The police registered a case against them at Shabqadar police station. In Karak, re-polling took place at 15 of the 21 union councils in the district. No untoward incident was reported. In Nowshera, re-polling for local governments occurred at 88 polling stations amid tight security. Long queues of voters were seen at polling stations. Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197547/no-mismanagement-no-violence-as-lg-re-polling-held-in-14-districts
MINGORA: The six-party alliance is set to form local governments in five of the seven tehsils in Swat, while the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf would be able to form its governments in two tehsils only. After the successful conduct of the local government elections in May this year, the final results did not go in favour of PTI. According to political experts in Swat, the alliance under the umbrella of PML-N would form its governments in five tehsils of Swat. “This is really a disappointing situation for PTI in Swat and it is because of its poor selection of candidates for the district and tehsil councils’ elections ,” said Ibadat Khan, a political activist in Mingora. He said that PTI had given tickets to people who were unpopular. People said that PTI could not start any major development project in Swat which led to its poor show in the LG polls. “They failed to start any mega project in Swat. The roads are in worst condition, cleanliness situation is deplorable, and the elected members of PTI seem to be toothless to bring any change in the lives of people of the Mingora town,” said Amjad Ali, adding “This is why people rejected them.” It was an ideal situation for rest of the political parties to take advantage of. Without wasting a moment, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Jamaat-i-Islami, Qaumi Watan Party and Pakistan People’s Party joined hands against PTI and got success. “The alliance is in a position to form governments in five tehsils, including Kabal, Charbagh, Khwazakhela, Bahrain and Babuzai, while PTI has the strength to form governments in Barikot and Matta tehsils. The alliance has already chalked out a formula for appointing nazims and naib nazims in the five tehsils,” said Ghafoor Khan Adil, a local journalist. Meanwhile, three independent councillors have still maintained their independent status and they do not favour either side. Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197539/six-party-alliance-to-form-govts-in-five-swat-tehsils
PESHAWAR: Most of the basic health units in the province, especially in Kohistan, Torghar and southern districts, lack essential medicines and suffer from absenteeism of staff, according to a report of health department. The report says that basic health units in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohistan and Torghar etc lack 80 per cent essential drugs while their staff including doctors and paramedics remain absent from duty. About 70 of the posts, sanctioned for the health facilities, are vacant, it says. A local organisation, Integrated Health Services, manages the health facilities in Kohistan and Torghar where the report says that drugs are short in supply and staff’s presence is not up to the desired level. Report says health facilities face absenteeism of staff
The government established Independent Monitoring Units by spending Rs478 million in February and appointed 175 members, including 25 females, who were tasked to evaluate the performance of more than 1,500 health facilities in all 26 districts of the province and furnish information to government with a view to take measures and make patients’ care effective. The monitors also listen to people’s complaints on the spot in the hospitals. The three-year project is aimed at checking availability of drugs and doctors; cleanliness situation and attitude of the health providers at the first level healthcare facilities under the supervision of divisional managers. The monitors transmit the reports about health units on smart phones and describe weaknesses in the respective facilities. The report is displayed on a dashboard and become visible to the health minister and his top officials. The monitoring system has brought some improvement in presence of health workers at their duty places. “In April, we found that 24 per cent doctors, 16 per cent lady health workers and 24 per cent medical technicians remained absent from duty throughout the province,” said Dr Akhtar Said, head of the Project Management Unit. He said that absenteeism dropped by six per cent because of the action taken by the officials concerned. Dr Akhtar said that initially it was an assumption that health department employees would resist their visits and checking their record but their cooperation in making consolidated reports was praiseworthy. “They are very supportive. Through online system, we receive data from the field and prepare reports,” he added. Dr Akhtar said that 47 per cent health facilities didn’t have drinking water and 20 per cent of the residential quarters, built for staff, were occupied by other people. “The Peshawar-based PMU supervises the mobility and geographical location of the monitors on computers which leaves no chance for the workers to remain absent or send wrong reports,” he said. In more than 550 basic health units, managed by the People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative in 17 districts, 80 per cent posts are filled. The patients also receive medicines and standard services as well as vaccination. The report says that monitors found 80 per cent of the posts of doctors and health technicians vacant in southern districts and quality of service given to the people wasn’t satisfactory. The basic health facilities, run by Merlin UK, were found satisfactory in Buner, one of the two districts, it manages. However, in Lower Dir, its performance wasn’t that good. The health units, managed by Save the Children, also face absenteeism of staff. Overall, the report says, 31 per cent basic health facilities lack toilets. The problems of electricity and disputes over dues etc with Wapda and illegal occupation of the buildings are also some of the issues that hamper patients’ care. Dr Akhtar said that they trained the monitors to scale up their knowledge about quality healthcare at first and second level facilities. A recent meeting, held with Health Minister Shahram Tarakai in the chair, also decided to strengthen the monitoring system and improve chain of management to give better care to the patients. Dr Akhtar said that a feedback system was in place through which they came to know about the status of any facility. “We remain connected with the respective district health officers and medical superintendents and inform them about the problems,” he said. Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197540/most-of-basic-health-units-short-of-essential-medicines
PESHAWAR: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has won majority of the seats during the re-polling in 11 wards of Peshawar for the district council. The re-polling was held at 29 polling stations in 11 wards on Thursday. According to unofficial election results, the PTI won nine seats of the district council. It was followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which got two. Among the wards, where PTI candidates won, were Hazarkhwani II, Kakshal, Shekhan, Rashid Garhi. The Election Commission of Pakistan will declare official results three days after re-polling. The ECP has asked winning candidates to submit details of election expenditure with their respective returning officers saying it will notify their names as election winners after that. The ECP also asked independent candidates to join political party of their choice within three days after the notification of re-polling results. In Swabi, the tripartite alliance of ANP, JUI-F and PPP-P as well as independents swept the re-polling. The ruling collation, including PTI, AJIP and JI, failed to clinch a single district seat. According to unofficial results, the ANP secured five district council seats, while one seat went to its coalition partner, JUI-F. The remaining five seats were bagged by independents. After re-polling, the overall party position shows that the ANP got 24 district council seats, PTI 10, JUI-F eight and the rest went to independents and others political parties. There are 56 union councils in Swabi district. In Lakki Marwat, Faridullah of PPP-P won the district council seat from Tajazai union council by getting 1,299 votes against JUI-F candidate Mohammad Zaman, who obtained 1,191 votes in the re-polling. Haji Farhanullah of PTI won the tehsil seat from the same union council. Jamil Ahmad Khan of JUI-F won Eesakhel district council seat by defeating PPP-P candidate Habibur Rehman. The tehsil council seat went to Gul Rehman of JUI-F. In Karak, PTI emerged as the largest party in Karak and bagged seven seats of the district council after re-polling at 69 polling stations of 14 union councils. It was followed by JUI-F with five seats. Polling in Nari Panos union council didn’t take place due to a case pending with the Peshawar High Court. According to unofficial results, independent candidate Hayat Khan won the district council seat from Palosa Sar union council. In Ghundi Mir Khankhel union council, independent candidate Umar Khan Khattak won the district council seat, while another independent, Jan Alam, won the district council seat from Jandri union council. Overall, ruling party does better than opposition in Thursday re-polling
Another independent candidate, Abdus Sadiq Khattak won the district council seat from Isak Chountra union council. In Mithakhel union council, PTI’s Azmat Khan Khattak secured the district council seat by securing 3,847 votes against independent candidate Abdul Kareem, who got 2,379 votes. PTI’s Inayatullah won the district council seat from Bahaderkhel union council, while JUI-F’s Malik Naveed won the district council seat from Latamber union council. The district council seat from Chokara union council was secured by independent candidate Mohammad Sajjad. In Warana Ahmadabad union council, PTI’s Malik Abdul Wahab, who is son of the chief minister’s adviser and MPA Malik Qasim Khan, won the district council seat, while Malik Qasim’s nephew Malik Rizwan of PTI won the district council seat from Jehangeri union council. In Shnawa Guddikhel union council, PTI’s Malik Aslam Khan won the district council seat, while JUI-F candidate Maulana Shah Zaman grabbed the district council seat from Sirajkhel union council. In Mianki Banda union council, PTI’s Sikandar Azam secured the seat of district council, while independent Abdus Saeed won the seat of district council from Takht-i-Nusrati union council. In Abbottabad’s Sarbanha union council, Malik Sajjad of PTI won district council seat, while Malik Aslam of PTI won in the tehsil seat. In Tajwal union council, Sardar Fayaz of PTI won district council seat and Sardar Fayaz of PTI the tehsil council seat. In Nara union council, Sardar Shameem of PML-N won the district council seat and Arsal Pervez of PML-N tehsil one. Now, the total tally of district seats has gone in favour of PTI with 28 seats followed PTI wins most of Peshawar district council seats by PML-N with 20 seats and JI with one seat. In Havelian tehsil, six seats went to PTI and PML-N each, while one seat was secured by an independent candidate. In Abbottabad tehsil, PTI got 16, PML-N 15, JI five, and one independent and Islamic Party each. Of the seven polling stations in five union councils, the re-polling was held at five polling stations. Polling at two polling stations has been stayed by the court. In Buner, the ruling coalition won re-polling with PTI and JI joint candidates winning district and tehsil council seats. Rashid Ahmad of JI bagged 2,718 votes and Bakhtyar Ali of PTI won tehsil council seat by bagging 2,930 votes in Gagra union council. In Kohat, the PTI candidates and independents swept re-polling on three union councils in Kohat district and four union councils in Hangu district, according to unofficial results. Re-polling was held on Lachi rural, Dheri Banda (Kharmatu) and Shakardarra rural-II union councils in Kohat district and Doaba, Karbogha, Shamal Din Banda and Hangu union councils in Hangu district. In Mardan, PTI obtained three seats of district council and as many seats of tehsil council in the re-polling at 42 polling stations of 10 union councils in Mardan. According to unofficial results, ANP candidate for district council Himayatullah Mayar defeated Mujahid Ali Shah Bacha of PTI with a low margin in Mayar union council. Himayatullah got 3,204 votes and Bacha 3,134. In the same union council, tehsil seat went to Malik Ayaz of JUI-F. In Muhib Banda union council, Abdus Sattar of PTI won the district council seat defeating Hazrat Ali of JUI-F. The tehsil seat from the union council was grabbed ANP’s Zahir Khan. In Mahu Dheray union council, PTI’s Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Ameen won the district council and tehsil council seats, respectively. In Ghari Daolatzai union council, PTI candidate Asfandiyar Khan won the district council seat defeating Anwar Said of JUI-F. In Toru union council, Maulana Amanat Shah of JUI-F defeated Fazal Tawab of PTI for the district council seat, while the tehsil seat from the union council was secured by PTI’s Mohammad Ilyas. In Maday Baba union council, independent Abdur Rehman, who was backed the Imran Mohmand (Shaheed) group, won the district council seat. In Chak Hoti union council, JI’s Ahmad Sultan defeated Naseer Qadir of PTI for the district council seat, while Abdul Malik of PTI won the Tehsil seat. In Ghari Daulatzai union council, independent candidate for district council Wahid Ali defeated Fakhar Alam of JI. On the tehsil seat, independent Mohammad Fida Hussain defeated PTI’s Masood. In Chamtaar union council, ANP’s Shaukat Mohmand secured the district council seat, while independent Taj Wali won the Tehsil council seat. In Ghaladher union council, independent Tariq Aziz won the district council seat by defeating PTI’s Noor Gul, while Wiqar Ahmad of PPP won the Tehsil seat. In Nowshera, the PTI won majority seats both in the district and tehsil councils during the re-Thursday re-polling. According to unofficial results, Israruddin of PTI won the district council seat from Dehri Katikhel union council, while Bashir Khan of PTI won the seat of tehsil council from the same union council. Zahid Khattak of ANP got elected to the district council from Khairabd union council, while Haq Nawaz of PTI won the tehsil council seat from the same union council. Independent Qazi Wajid won the district council seat from UN Chowki Town, while Maulana Imranul Haq of JUI-F grabbed the tehsil council seat. Haroon Khattak of PTI secured the district council seat from Adamzai union council, while Kefayat Jan of PTI got elected as tehsil councilor from the same union council. Independent Shaukat Khan was declared successful as district councillor from Balu union council, while Falak Niaz of ANP won the tehsil council seat from the same union council. In Mohib Banda union council, Qaisar Khan of PTI won the district council seat, while Arbab Noor Hussain of PTI was elected as tehsil council member from the same union council. Sajjad Hameed of PTI won the district council seat from Daag Ismail Khel union council, while Murtaza Khattak of PTI was elected to the Tehsil council from the union council. In Shahkot union council, Sikander Zaman of PTI secured the district council seat, while Zakir Hussain Khattak was elected as tehsil council member from the union council. In Rashakae union council, independent Mohammad Haji Sahib was elected as district councilor, while Haji Inayatur Rehman of JI won the Tehsil council seat. PTI’s Zartaj Khan got elected from Gandehri union council, while tehsil council seat from the union council was secured by Maulana Salman Jelani. In Charsadda, the PTI won seven seats of district council during the re-polling at 15 union councils of Charsadda followed by JUI-F with five seats, Qaumi Watan Party two seats and ANP one seat. In 49 union councils, ANP emerged as the majority party by securing 17 seats followed by PTI with 13 and QWP with 10 seats. JUI-F secured six seats, while Jamaat-i-Islami won three seats, according to unofficial results of 49 union councils. For Charsadda tehsil council, ANP’s Nadir Khan was declared successful from Behlola union council, while QWP’s Sajjad Khattak won from Dargai union council. For Tangi tehsil council, ANP’s Khan Bahadar won from Shodaag, JUI-F’s Nawab Khan from Kooz Behram Dheri union council, PTI’s Zahid Gul from Abazai union council, independent Manzoor Bashir from Hisara Nehri union council, ANP’s Yasir Ameen from Zaim union council and QWP’s Fazal Diyan from Sherpao union council. For Shabqadar tehsil council, QWP’s Sartaj Khan won the seat from Daulatpura union council, ANP’s Mian Meraj from Shabqadar-II union council, independent Mian Mujeebur Rehman from Hajizai union council, QWP’s Gul Yousaf from Rashakai union council, PTI’s Muzammil Khan from Matta Mughalkhel union council, JI’s Khudadad Khan from Hassanzai union council and PTI’s Sheikh Ghafarullah from Panjpao union council. Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197739/pti-wins-most-of-peshawar-district-council-seats
PESHAWAR: The provincial cabinet on Friday approved several proposed laws, including the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whistleblowers Protection and Vigilance Bill 2015. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak chaired the cabinet meeting that approved the draft of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade Bill 2015; Civil Servants (amended) Act 2015; and amendments to the Provincial Services Academy Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Act 2013. Briefing mediapersons about the decisions taken in the meeting, Information Minister Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani said that the cabinet had also constituted a committee to remove lacunas from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Act 2014. The committee would forward recommendations to be incorporated into the KPEA 2014. He said that the committee would be headed by Senior Minister Inayatullah Khan, while provincial ministers Shah Farman, Mohammad Atif Khan and Ali Amin Gandapur, and advocate general and secretary law would be its members. Mr Ghani said that the cabinet also approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural Policy 2015, KP Health Foundation 2015 and amendment to the Local Government Act 2013. About the whistleblowers law, he said that it was aimed at eradication of corruption, adding that the government would ensure protection to all those extending cooperation. Information minister says the law is aimed at curbing corruption
The whistleblowers would be given commendation certificates and 30 per cent of the recovered money and fine, while their identity would be kept secret. He said that those disclosing the whistleblowers’ identity would be fined. A three-member vigilance commission would be established to probe the relevant case and recommend action against those found guilty. All the government employees would have to extend cooperation to the commission and those failing to cooperate could be fined up to Rs50,000 and given jail term of two years. In case of false charges, the complainant would have to pay a Rs100,000 fine. About the KP Board of Investment Act, he said that it was set up in 2012 under an executive order which had no rules of business so far. It will have 15-20 members with the chief minister as its chairman. It will pave the way for attracting investment, help implement the Public-Private Partnership Act 2014 to boost local economy, help different departments in search of reasonable projects, prepare pre-feasibility reports and bring in investment and donors as well. Mr Ghani said that the KP Civil Servants (amended) Act would help settle the issues pertaining to pension, arrears, postings and transfers being faced by the employees devolved in the aftermath of 18th amendment. The cabinet also increased the amount required for the treatment of renal transplant from Rs50,000 to Rs1 million. The cabinet, he said, approved an amendment to the Journalists Welfare Fund and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Endowment Fund Act 2014 and the amount had been increased from Rs20,000 per patient to Rs100,000. The minister said that following the 18th amendment and NFC Award, the provincial government needed a new agricultural policy and thus a proposed draft law in this regard was also approved. The new policy, he said, would help ensure food security of the low-income group, overcome poverty and pave the way for increased role of women. Mr Ghani said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Foundation was approved to help provide health facilities to people through public-private partnership. He said that a seven-member board of governors would run it. The cabinet also approved some amendments to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institution Reforms Act 2015 to help resolve the issues being faced by the civil servants regarding pension and other benefits. Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197732/kp-cabinet-approves-proposed-whistleblowers-protection-law
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tourism, culture and archaeology department is set to start implementing an ambitious agenda to restore the past legacy of the historic ‘Walled City Peshawar’ as well as revive cultural activities in the province. A meeting chaired by secretary Azam Khan and attended by all relevant officials was held to discuss ideas and ways to revive cultural, sports, tourist and youth activities in the entire province. The meeting decided to initiate various cultural festivals and activities under the Revival of Indigenous Cultural Heritage (RICH) project to be implemented by the directorate of culture in collaboration with the local artists, CBOs/ NGOs as implementing partners in the project, decided meeting. The project is to work as a catalyst in identifying and reviving the celebrations of the indigenous culture of the province. It will also help document all human cultural assets and prepare a comprehensive online database available to researchers, scholars, policymakers and those who have an interest in culture of this region, the meeting was informed. It will begin in all districts of the province in collaboration with the district-based grassroots organisations, cultural operators, arts councils, culture and tourism support groups, artisans and craftsmen associations and civil society organisations which have considerable knowledge and skills about their local cultures and heritage, said a press release issued here. Tourism, culture dept also plans to revive cultural activities in province
Secretary Azam Khan said the project was aimed at documenting, preserving and promoting the indigenous cultural heritage and tourism of all the communities living in the culturally-rich Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the release, to retain the historic character and culture of the old city of Peshawar, the directorate of archaeology is launching a project titled ‘Conservation of Peshawar Walled City.’ Under the project, the city walls and historic 16 gates would be conserved for tourism purposes. PTI Chairman Imran Khan is particularly interested in this project, the meeting was informed. The meeting was told that the project would be in two phases. Initially, documentation and master plan would be prepared and implementation phase would follow. The Peshawar Walled City Authority would be established to administer it. For this purpose, technical assistance has been sought from the Belgian University, which specialises in preserving historic cities and Peshawar is one of the oldest living cities of Asia. Dr Abdul Samad, director (archaeology and museums), said the directorate had planned to conserve old monuments of Peshawar. He said the provincial government had allocated Rs200 million for the Walled City project. During the meeting, the directorate of culture was also tasked to establish a state-of-the-art audio and video studio, which would be first of its kind in province and perhaps the entire country. The studio will help promote creations of local artists, who lack resources to afford a private studio for their recordings. The officials also discussed the cultural beautification of Peshawar city according to accepted standards in art and design. The directorate of culture was asked to run it effectively. Under the project, volunteers will be given training to create awareness about the cleanliness and woo the masses to participate in keeping the city clean. Soon visible changes will be seen through aesthetically pleasing artwork around the city under the guidance of national experts. The directorate of culture will also identify living human assets and maestros of various fields of culture so that the government could honour them with recognition awards like ‘Lifetime Achievement Awards’. A directory will also be published under the title “The best of KP” or “Living Human Treasures. The project is aimed at preserving the knowledge and skills of the maestros and to salute our living legends for their lifelong struggles in different fields of art, crafts, literature etc. Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197733/work-to-restore-peshawar-walled-city-soon
PESHAWAR: As the administration has launched drive against eateries in Peshawar for violating established standard of hygiene and quality of foodstuff, it is blind to the awful conditions at meat and vegetable supply centres controlled by the district government itself. Take the example of the main abattoir on Landaki Road from where tons of meat is supplied to around three million population of Peshawar on a daily basis. Conditions are really disgusting at the slaughterhouse, where around 300 cattle, mostly buffaloes, are slaughtered every day. The staff wearing no protective gear and barefoot children walking around in the blood and waste of the slaughtered animals is a common sight. The slaughtered and living animals in proximity – a vivid example of animal cruelty if one for a second cares that these standing buffaloes have feelings too - is a nauseating sight. Only shed has been constructed under which animals are tied and slaughtered. No check-up or examination is done to determine whether the animal’s meat is fit for human consumption or not, while no facilities are there to avoid contamination of meat. This open-air facility surrounded by residential quarters has become potential source of air and land pollution in the vicinity. The slaughtered meat is transported to retailers through horse-drawn carts, auto-rickshaws or pickups without proper cover. Notwithstanding the district government charges Rs80 per cattle, but did not upgrade the facility. The administration has provided only water for washing the floor and ceiling fans. Meat not checked for quality; no facilities to prevent meat from contamination
Another slaughterhouse on the Ring Road is in the same condition. Several private slaughterhouses at different localities in the city are also in pathetic condition. Condition of the government controlled vegetable and fruit markets are also in bad shape. Rotten products are sold openly. The government generates huge revenue through auctioning these facilities. Laws have been framed, food inspectors have been appointed, but these laws are not applied to check quality and standard of edible commodities. The district administration launched drive in Ramazan to ensure provision of health food in restaurants. The campaign is still going on. Several restaurants, including global fast food chains, were raided and their managements were fined for having rotten foodstuff, expired items and not maintaining standard of hygiene in kitchens. Shopping arcades were also raided and expired items were recovered. The ongoing drive proves eyewash. Some fast food outlets, which were fined for not maintaining standard of cleanliness at their kitchens and selling substandard food, have continued their business in the same manner. A fast food outlet in Saddar Bazaar, which was fined Rs100,000 for keeping kitchen dirty, is running his business in the same messy utensils and environment. “The administration was demanding Rs200,000 fine and finally, we paid Rs100,000,” said manager of the outlet. “The government should have to educate us about hygiene standard before taking action.” Managements of some restaurants term the drive unwarranted and allege that the district authorities are trying to create hype through media instead of addressing the issue. Tahir Mahmood Khan, spokesman for Hashoo Group, alleged that raid on the city’s five-star hotel was unjustified because the assistant commissioner had no authority to conduct such action. “Standard procedure is that the official along with experts from food and health departments is supposed to inspect kitchen and other section of the hotel. The relevant AC came to the hotel without experts, which is wrong because has no expertise to determine quality of food and hygiene,” he said. The spokesman said the hotel came under the jurisdiction of tourism corporation and cantonment board and that the hotel’s management paid Rs300,000 to the government. AC Osama Warraich told Dawn that the raiding team had recovered a pack of expired milk from the kitchen of the five-star hotel. He said managements of other restaurants and shopping arcades were also fined for selling expired products and rotten foodstuffs and having unhygienic kitchens. The AC said the government would take more serious action against owners if they failed follow the prescribed rules. “The administration gave them first warning and will take action again and again,” he said, adding that the fine had been imposed under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pure Food (Amendment) Ordinance, 1983. Under the said law, for a first offence, there is a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine which shall not be less than Rs50,000; for a second offence, rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and with fine which shall not be less than Rs70,000, and for any subsequent offence, rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine which shall not be less than Rs100,000. Important aspect is that the district administration has started drives without legal backing or cover. Official sources said the home and tribal affairs department through a notification on June 29, 2015 had given magistracy powers to eight ACs to use powers to check prices in Peshawar only. “They (ACs) have not been authorised to raid eateries for checking quality of foodstuffs,” said an official. The notification said: “In supervision of all earlier notifications in this behalf and in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 14-A of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (Act V of 1898) the provincial government is pleased to confer powers of the special magistrate 1st class on the following officers along with their territorial jurisdiction shown in the column against each exclusively for trial of offences relating to price control under any provincial or federal law for the time being in force, including the powers to raid and conduct summary trials of offences, in the assigned jurisdiction, in addition to their duties.” Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197734/peshawars-main-abattoir-in-awful-condition
PESHAWAR: The wrangling between the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) over the functioning of a non-commercial FM radio station at Mardan has further intensified as the latter has now also raised objection to the three proposed FM stations of the provincial government in other districts. Official sources revealed that despite repeated requests by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Department the Pemra had been showing reluctance to issue a licence of non-commercial FM radio station, which had already been functioning for last over six years in Mardan district. In different communications, the provincial government continues to cite multiple reasons due to which the FM radio stations are required in different districts, especially for reforms in various sectors. Govt argues such radio stations needed to promote reforms, discourage extremism
However, Pemra in its letter on March 18, 2015 stated that as per policy in vogue, one institution/organisation shall be allowed a maximum of one non-commercial FM radio licence whereas one such licence had already been issued to the KP directorate of information for Peshawar and thus the licence for another FM radio station at Mardan was regretted. The Pemra, in one of the letters sent by an assistant general manager (licencing) on April 23, 2015, to the information directorate, stated that temporary licence was granted to the non-commercial FM station in Mardan which had expired on Dec 22, 2010. The directorate was asked in that letter to stop the “illegal FM radio station” before taking up any other case for the award of licence. An official privy to the controversy told Dawn that the refusal by Pemra was in violation of Article 159 (broadcasting and telecasting) of the Constitution which gave the provinces the right of establishing own transmitters and could not be unreasonably denied. The controversy took another turn on July 6, 2015 when the Pemra’s director general (licencing) sent a letter to the KP chief secretary raising objection to the setting up of three proposed FM radio stations in the financial year at Abbottabad, Swat and Kohat, for which Rs224 million was earmarked in the budget. The KP government has brushed aside all the objections of Pemra and quoted different provisions of law as well as the benefits which could be achieved through setting up of FM radio stations in divisional headquarters of the province. In reply to the July 6 letter, the KP government’s secretary information, Mohammad Abid Majeed, sent a letter on July 24 wherein he had cited several benefits of the proposed radio stations. He also explained that the radio stations at Peshawar and Mardan had been airing public service messages on array of subjects, including female education, Islamic values, tolerance, tree plantation, health, citizen rights, anti-corruption, child labour, blood donation, environment, etc. “The importance of radio as a medium of communication, especially considering the geography of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, cannot be overemphasised and therefore the provincial government supported the establishment of two FM radio stations, the Pakhtunkhwa Radios FM 92.2 Peshawar and FM 92.4 Mardan. Considering the importance of this medium the futuristic reform initiatives of the KP government envisions establishing such structure at each individual divisional headquarters in the province,” the letter said. The FM radio, it said, would be used for relaying social messages concerning issues such as fight against polio, and promotion of health and education to a sizable population, and more importantly to the womenfolk at their homes whose access to information otherwise in a traditional society was severely limited. It said that anti-extremism messages, government’s initiatives, reforms and achievements would be communicated to the people of province. It referred to different special programmes, aired on occupational hazards/diseases, and preventive measures at workplaces, etc. Similarly, when the incident of Army Public School in Peshawar occurred, the Pakhtunkhwa radio produced and aired various programmes to counter the narrative of anti-state elements. In another letter sent to Pemra in May 2015 the information department stated: “Everyone knows that KP has badly suffered due to terrorism and is still confronted with the threat of extremism. Therefore, Pakhtunkhwa Radio Mardan, the signals of which are received in parts of Malakand division and tribal regions and also in some areas of Afghanistan can substantially contribute to the promotion of peace in this region.” The provincial government now awaits reply of Pemra on the said letter. Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1197929/pemra-reluctant-to-issue-licences-to-kp-govt-for-fm-radio-stations
PESHAWAR: The joint opposition is likely to end its two-month-long boycott of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, which will resume its sitting on Monday. Sources said that parliamentary leaders of the opposition parties would meet shortly before the sitting to discuss future course of action. They said that opposition parties decided in principle to end the boycott and take part in the session. The joint opposition comprising JUI-F, PML-N, ANP and PPP had boycotted the session on June 15 to protest the alleged rigging and mismanagement in the local government elections, conducted on May 30. Qaumi Watan Party, which was part of the combined opposition, did not support the boycott amid reports that the party was rejoining the coalition government. JUI-F, PML-N, ANP and PPP boycotted the session on June 15 against alleged rigging in LG polls
The boycott of the session facilitated the government to pass annual budget and important bills including amendments in Right to Information Act easily. The lawmakers of the opposition, when approached, did not comment whether the boycott was ended on the request of the government or on its own. “No comment,” replied an MPA of the opposition when asked whether the government approached them to end the boycott. Opposition leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman, who is also parliamentary leader of JUI-F, had announced that they would not come back to the assembly unless the government resigned, dissolved the assembly and held fresh local bodies’ elections under an independent caretaker setup. It is worth mentioning that the provincial assembly had to meet on July 28, but Speaker Asad Qaisar postponed it because Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan was going abroad. Under the constitution, speaker of the provincial assembly has to act as acting governor when the governor is out of country and deputy speaker is to preside over the session. Since the office of the deputy speaker has been lying vacant for the last nine months reported owing to differences among the members of the ruing PTI, the speaker postponed the sitting till August 17. However, Sardar Mahtab did not go abroad due to some unknown reasons and Speaker Asad Qaisar summoned the sitting on August 3. The government is likely to table The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whistle Blowers Protection and Vigilance Commission Act, 2015, Board of Investment and Trade Act, Civil Servants (amendment) Act, Journalist Welfare Fund Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Endowment (amendment) Act, 2014, Health Foundation Act, 2014, Ehtesab (amendment) Act, 2014 and Local Government (amendment) Act, 2013. Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1198091/opposition-likely-to-end-boycott-of-kp-assembly
MANSEHRA: The Higher Education Commission has released Rs250 million for completing reconstruction work on 10 academic blocks of the University of Hazara which was left halfway by a Turkish NGO over shortage of funds. According to a press release issued by the university, the HEC has earmarked Rs700 for completing the reconstruction work. It said the remaining amount of Rs450 million would be released soon. The October 8, 2005 earthquake had completely destroyed the university building. The release said the vice chancellor had taken the matter with the HEC through the provincial government which approved the amount. Due to lack of a proper building, many departments are currently functioning in prefabricated and old buildings. It is to mention here that the NGOs have also left incomplete work on hundreds of schools destroyed in the devastating earthquake in five districts of Hazara division, but neither the federal nor the provincial governments allocated funds for completing the reconstruction of schools. Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1198087/hec-releases-250m-for-completing-work-on-varsity
PESHAWAR: The decision of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to start institution-based practice (IBP) at the teaching hospitals has worried the owners of private medical centres as they fear that the new mechanism will harm them financially. “We have been receiving requests from the owners of private medical centres to oppose the government’s move about IBP in hospitals,” a senior physician told Dawn. According to him, there are about 100 small and big buildings in the city which house private clinics where doctors from the teaching hospitals do private practice in the evening. However, the provincial health department introduced the new law a few months ago with a view to change the 70-year-old rotten healthcare system and put in place a new mechanism to improve patients’ care at the state-run hospitals. Institution-based practice by senior doctors will leave private clinics deserted
Besides other major decisions, the new law also seeks to start IBP in the official hospitals in the evening, which has sent chills down the spines of the people, who have constructed huge buildings where doctors not only examine the patients but also operate on them. “The owners will lose their income because several senior consultants have opted to sit in the hospitals for IBP instead of their private medical centres,” the physician said. The government is in the process of launching the new system to start private practice of doctors in four teaching hospitals including Khyber Teaching Hospital, Hayatabad Medical Complex and Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad within a month. Half of the senior doctors, including professors, associate and assistant professors had already opted to start IBP in their respective hospitals. The health department has selected 10-member Governing Body for each of the four hospitals to implement the new law and put in place effective healthcare system. The move is considered in the right direction by many senior doctors because they say that it is professionally as well as financially beneficial for them. A senior surgeon said that currently, he was doing private practice in Dabgari Gardens, Peshawar after 4pm where he examined a patient on receiving consultation fee of Rs800. “When I advise investigations to the patients, the income goes to the private centre and there is every likelihood that investigations can be faulty because there can be unqualified people. On contrary, the government is allowing us to get consultation fee from the patients at the hospital, then why should I continue privately,” he said. The surgeon said that in hospitals, they would also receive part of the income generated from the investigations of patients. “And the staff at the hospitals’ laboratories is also qualified because the government’s employees cannot be unqualified,” he said. Unlike the privately-run outlets, the government-owned hospitals have huge infrastructure with all latest facilities that can be used for the benefit of the patients as well as the staff. A pediatrician said the owner of the centre where he ran a clinic in the evening was unhappy over the new system in the hospitals and was offering incentives to the doctors to stay. “But why should I be travelling to Dabgari Gardens in the evening when the government gives more facilities in the hospital,” he said. A manager of a private centre told Dawn that he had constructed the building specifically for doctors, which housed clinics, laboratories and operation theatres that would become deserted if the government’s plan succeeded. He said that many doctors had assured him that they would sit at his centre in the evening. Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1198094/new-policy-brings-worries-for-owners-of-private-medical-centres
The provincial cabinet in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on July 31 gave approval to the proposed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whistleblowers Protection and Vigilance Act 2015. It is likely that the bill will be tabled in the provincial assembly in its ongoing session. While the provincial government has yet to make public the draft of the proposed law so as to receive input from the stakeholders, including civil society and legal experts, it claims that it is aimed at providing a mechanism for receiving complaints related to corruption and misuse of office and to provide for safeguards against victimisation of the whistleblowers or complainants. In a press briefing, information minister Mushtaq Ghani stated that the proposed law envisaged setting up of a vigilance commission, which would comprise of a chairman and two other members. The proposed commission will be empowered to initiate an inquiry on information provided by a whistleblower against any person, department or authority and will put forward recommendations for taking appropriate action against the concerned official if the information proved to be correct. Mr Ghani said that the vigilance commission would be empowered to receive assistance from the officials of any department and it would also be authorised to hire services of an expert on the relevant subject. He added that the whistleblower would be awarded commendation certificate and given 30 per cent of the amount of fine. Under the proposed law the name of a whistleblower should be kept secret and if anyone disclosed his or her name he would be fined. Also, if any whistleblower was found intentionally giving false information against an official he would be fined up to Rs100,000. Prior to this proposed legislation the present provincial government had also included a provision related to whistleblower in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Access to Information Act 2013. Section 30 of the said Act provides that no one may be subject to any legal, administrative or employment-related sanction, regardless of any breach of a legal or employment obligation, for releasing information or wrongdoing, or which would disclose a serious threat to health, safety or the environment, as long as they acted in good faith and in reasonable belief that the information was substantially true. So far there is no law available on federal or provincial level on whistleblowers’ protection. Pakistan is a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture, which was adopted by the General Assembly on Oct 31, 2003. Pakistan ratified the convention on Aug 31, 2007. The said convention also makes it obligatory on the states to include in their legal system measures for providing protection to the persons reporting regarding corruption. In South Asia, Bangladesh and India have already enacted comprehensive laws on whistleblowers protection. In Bangladesh the law “Public-interest Information Disclosure Act 2011” was enacted by the parliament in 2011. Similarly, in India the “Whistleblowers Protection Act 2011” after its passage by the parliament received consent of the President on May 9, 2014. In the Indian law Section 15 provides for penalty for furnishing incomplete or incorrect or misleading comments or explanation or report to the competent authority, whereas Section 16 provides for penalty for revealing identity of a complainant (whistleblower). If the competent authority is of the opinion that the organisation or official concerned has not furnished the report within specified time or refused to submit the report or knowingly give incomplete, incorrect or misleading of false report or destroyed record or information which was the subject of disclosure, it shall impose a penalty, in case of delay in submission of record, which may extend to Rs250 for each day till report is furnished, and where incorrect or misleading information is given it could impose penalty up to Rs50,000. Furthermore, under Section 16 any person who negligently or with mala fide intentions reveals the identity of a complainant shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three years and also to fine which may extend up to Rs50,000. Similarly, the law in Bangladesh also provides for protection to the whistleblowers, stating that if any whistleblower discloses any authentic information his identity could not be disclosed without his consent. Moreover, for making disclosure of public interest information, no criminal or civil, or, where applicable, departmental suit can be filed against the whistleblower. Section 10 of the law also envisages punishment for a whistleblower for disclosing false information. Compared to South Asia, in the US protection to the whistleblowers is available in several laws on central as well as on States level. The protection from workplace retaliation includes any adverse action against workers including: Firing or laying off, blacklisting, demoting, denying overtime or promotion, failure to hire or rehire, denial of benefits, intimidation/harassment, making threats, reducing pay or hours, etc. Legal experts believe that before enactment of the law, it should be presented for public debate so as to remove flaws, if any, from the draft. The provincial government has to introduce foolproof measures for providing protection to the whistleblowers besides ensuring that the proposed law should not be misused by filing frivolous or baseless complaints against an officer or department. Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1198097/vi...-for-debate-on-whistleblowers-protection-bill
PESHAWAR: Former minister for mines and mineral development Ziaullah Afridi has complained against the failure to arrest those he had filed FIRs against for mining illegally. This was said during the proceedings in a court of the Ehtesab Commission (EC) on Tuesday. “I have registered 97 FIRs in the province, including 17 in Nowshera district, against those people who were involved in illegal mining,” Ziaullah told the court. “However, the police have failed to arrest a single person.” Character assassination The former minister said he has been subjected to character assassination because of his arrest. To make matters worse, pictures of him in jail have also been released on social media, he added. Permission to attend During the proceedings, Ziaullah filed a request to allow him to attend the current session of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. “It is requested that a production order be issued for the current assembly session under rule 65A of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules 1988,” read a letter written to the speaker of provincial assembly. The letter was signed by the former minister. Past and present Ziaullah Afridi was arrested on July 9 for mining illegally and making unfair appointments in the mines and mineral department. He was produced before the court of judge Hayat Ali Shah by EC to extend his custody in the illegal mining case. The court was requested to grant 14 more days of his custody to complete the enquiry. However, only three days were granted. At the time of arrest, the commission said the accused had caused a loss of Rs150 billion to the provincial exchequer. Furthermore, during his tenure, Ziaullah had also bypassed the provincial finance department and allotted leases. During last month’s court proceedings, Additional Deputy Prosecutor General Qazi Babar Irshad said EC is recording statements of various people against the accused under Section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code. Furthermore, EC also found a company that made Rs110 million during 2011-15 through illegal excavations. However, Abdul Latif Afridi, Ziaullah’s counsel, informed the court that the commission obtained nothing from his client during his 26-day physical custody. He called the investigation of commission weak, saying it would be a waste of time to extend the custody. The court then granted three days custody and handed over the accused to a EC team. Published in The Express Tribune, August 5[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/932257/...lah-files-request-to-attend-assembly-session/
PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa health ministry has inaugurated a month-long breastfeeding awareness campaign which will be carried out in 18 districts across the province. Furthermore, drives will also be conducted in Kurram and South Waziristan agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony held at the health directorate on Tuesday, K-P Health Services Director General Pervez Kamal said desired objectives will not be achieved until a large-scale awareness campaign is carried out. “The people should be informed how important breastfeeding is for the new-born.” He maintained that health officials, particularly Lady Health Workers and those from Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Programme should be involved in the process so that they can educate mothers on the benefits of breastfeeding. Since they carry out door-to-door visits, they can easily spread the word. “We have the workforce but we are not using it efficiently,” added Kamal. He also suggested that women should be provided with separate space at workplaces where they can feed their children. Public health deputy director Dr Shaheen Afridi said besides allocating space at workplaces, places should also be designated at hospitals where both the nursing staff and visitors can feed their children. She suggested the government ban doctors from advising mothers on using formula milk so that the infants can be breastfed for at least the first two years. Nutrition and reproductive health deputy director Dr Qaisar said legislation will soon be carried out in this regard. Speakers urged clerics, health employees and local paediatricians to participate in the campaign to make it a success. Representatives of World Health Organization, Unicef and World Food Programme were also present on the occasion. Around 48% of the children in K-P are stunted whereas the rate soars to 58% in the tribal areas. Similarly, around 24% of the children in K-P and 14% in the tribal areas are underweight. A national survey says only 38% of the infants are breastfed in the province. Published in The Express Tribune, August 5[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/932298/increasing-awareness-govt-initiates-campaign-on-breastfeeding/
PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education department plans to hire 561 teachers in government primary schools for girls in the city. Speaking to The Express Tribune, District Education Officer Samina Ghani said 421 primary school teachers, 100 certified teachers and around 40 senior English teachers will be appointed soon. “Currently, around 800 teachers are required to meet the needs of primary schools,” she said. “The department has received a request to hire more teachers at these schools. As a result, the department has approved 561 posts. More teachers will be appointed later.” PTC to the rescue Ghani said there is a shortage of teachers at schools in various parts of the province. “Increasing staff will ease the burden on school managements and teachers,” she said. “Parent teacher councils (PTC) are also working towards increasing the number of teachers at schools. Overall, schools are managing problems and developing better facilities with the help of PTC funds. We hope the shortage of teachers at girls schools will be resolved soon.” New rules According to the DEO, the 561 teachers who will be appointed will not be allowed to transfer from their designated schools. “This is because many girls schools in remote areas have been closed down as teachers decided to transfer,” she said. “Preference will be given to local candidates as they will be familiar with the area and have no trouble getting to work on time.” Furthermore, Ghani said new teachers will now only be appointed after they clear the test issued by National Testing Service. Published in The Express Tribune, August 5[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/932292/...achers-to-be-hired-for-girls-schools-in-city/
PESHAWAR: Two feasibility studies and differences with the Centre have put the city’s plans of having a mass transit system (MTS) of its own on the backburner.
What was initially thought to have been one of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government’s flagship mega-projects, a high-speed train running to and from the city, is now struggling to materialise as a bus rapid transit (BRT).
The initial plan was to use the already existing tracks and run a light railway transit (LRT). However, it was soon discovered the pre-feasibility study was impractical as the railway track is broad-gauged and the alignment is off-track with a number of overhead bridges.
In search for a more pragmatic solution, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak held a meeting with Federal Railway Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique to end the deadlock. During the meeting, Khattak administration insisted on acquiring land parallel to the track for a bus way. However, Rafique contended he had plans to establish a new railway line connecting Peshawar to Karachi and Afghanistan via Torkham. The feasibility study will be completed by the end of August.
K-P Board of Investment Vice Chairman Senator Mohsin Aziz considers the MTS his brainchild. “I will not let go of the project so easily,” he toldThe Express Tribune. “If the railway minister wants to go by the book there might be a shortage of only a kilometre or two of land which can be acquired.”
Aziz said there is space of up to 120 feet along the track which can be utilised easily but the Centre is creating hurdles. “Initial feedback on their project’s feasibility suggested the track should pass through Lwee Shalman instead of Torkham,” he added. Five pathways
Meanwhile, the Cities Development Initiative for Asia, which provides grants for such ventures, and is a trust fund under Asian Development Bank, has identified five corridors for the MTS. These are: Corridor 1: Chamkani to Hayatabad Corridor 2A: Chamkani to Karkhano via GT Road, Khyber Road and Jamrud Road Corridor 2B: Chamkani to Karkhano via GT Road, Sunehri Masjid Road, Sir Syed Ahmed Road and Jamrud Road Corridor 3: Warsak Road to Kohat Terminal via Saddar, AK Afridi Road and Kohat Road Corridor 4: Charsadda Road to Bara Road Terminus near Ring Road via Saddar Corridor 5: Inner City Circular Road and Ring Road
Meanwhile the K-P Urban Policy Unit has been working on another study considering Corridor 2, leading from Chamkani to Karkhano via GT Road. Under the project two extra lanes will be constructed on the sides of the GT Road to run the bus service. “There are around 26 stops on each side,” an official privy to the development told The Express Tribune. This means a stop after practically every kilometre.
In retrospect
An insider familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune both proposals have their own positives and negatives but it is highly unlikely the project will see the light of day during the tenure of the current government. It is believed Aziz is lobbying for his project despite resistance from the federal government, a fact that he denies. “It’s just that the second project will cost too much and will have to be constructed overhead considering all the impediments.”
Experts believe the project could nonetheless have been initiated had there been less politicking and more practicality. Owing to the growing public demands of an MTS, a meeting was scheduled for Friday (today) to moot possibilities. However, Senator Aziz maintained the meeting has been postponed.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/933547/...oad-to-mass-transit-system-bumpy-and-clogged/
PESHAWAR: The Ehtesab Commission (EC) has obtained a six-day physical custody of former mines and minerals minister Ziaullah Afridi in third case of illegal mining. The accused was brought to the Federal Judicial Complex, Hayatabad at 10:30am in an armoured personnel carrier amid tight security on Friday. A large number of Ziaullah’s supporters turned up for the hearing and shouted slogans against the chief minister. The commission declared the complex off-limits for everyone. It later allowed the media to cover the proceedings and assured not to repeat the same on the next hearing. He was presented before the court of judge Hayat Ali Shah and the trial was over by 12:30pm. The court ordered to shift Ziaullah to Central Prison Peshawar against the judicial remand granted in two earlier cases. However, he could not be moved to the jail since he has now been booked in a third case. Ziaullah’s counsel Abdul Latif Afridi said, “The EC claimed in the initial case that the illegal mining had caused a loss of Rs150 billion to the government exchequer and the third case is part of it. How can it now be said that a new case is registered and my client will be remanded for more days?” He opposed the extension of physical custody in the two previous cases and also the new one. The counsel said most districts of the province have mines and it is not justified that his client should be arrested. After hearing the arguments from both sides, the court granted six days of custody to the EC and ordered it to produce the accused on August 12. According to a handout issued by the commission on Thursday, the accused, as mines and mineral minister, used his position to influence the members of mining committee to process the renewal and assignment of Chromite Tangi mines from Muhammad Ayaz to Jalal Khattak against the Mining Concession Rules 2005. Published in The Express Tribune, August 8[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/934175/due-process-ziaullah-remanded-in-third-scam/
PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan announced local government re-poll results of the city’s 29 polling stations on Friday. Public Relations Officer (PRO) to the District Returning Officer Feroz Shah told The Express Tribune the process for the district and tehsil councils is now complete, while reserved seat results will be compiled in a few days. “The process to finalise results for reserved seats is in its final stages,” Shah said. He said the district council will consist of 138 members, out of which 31 seats have been reserved for women members, five for youth, five for minority and five for workers or peasants. All members will then elect a nazim and also a naib nazim who will also serve as the speaker, for both the district and tehsil councils. Shah said the district council hall has 350 seats hence accommodating a large number of members will not be difficult. The hall also has two galleries for journalists and bureaucrats. An LG department official, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune the first session of the district and tehsil councils is expected to be held on August 14. He said both district and tehsil council members will be allowed to contest the nazim and naib nazim elections. The ECP also announced re-poll results for Swabi where the tripartite alliance of opposition parties has gained a majority. Published in The Express Tribune, August 8[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015. http://tribune.com.pk/story/934121/lg-re-polls-results-of-citys-29-polling-stations-announced/
PESHAWAR: Practitioners of the traditional Kathak dance and ghazal singers left the audience spellbound at the Pearl Continental Hotel Peshawar on Wednesday night. A large number of dance and music lovers from across the city thronged the hotel auditorium for the event. Performers from across the country were invited to entertain the lively audience. However, Saima Khushnood’s performance took the cake. Khushnood is a renowned Kathak dancer who lived up to her reputation and left the attendees wanting for more. Blast from the past Dance acts were followed by a ghazal singing session. Tehmeena, an established vocalist hailing from Islamabad, sang popular melodies from the past and even entertained live requests. Her performance was complemented by a powerful performance by Tahir Khan, another vocalist who sang both Urdu and Pashto songs. Something for everyone “The Kathak dance was astounding and very well-choreographed,” said event attendee Zeeshan Anwar, who was with his family in the front row. “I have never seen such a beautiful dance performance in Peshawar. It is something new for us,”
Sheharyar Mirza, the organiser of the event, said the management did not expect such a large turnout. “The enthusiasm of the people just goes to show how much they yearn for such cultural activities,” he said. Positive image Mirza maintained he will continue to arrange such programmes in future as they foster a positive image of Peshawar and its people. “The hall was jam-packed,” he said. “This speaks volumes about how successful the event was.”
PESHAWAR: The government is introducing referral system to reduce burden of patients on the tertiary care hospitals and provide better treatment to those, who are suffering from chronic diseases and critical injuries, according to officials. The measure is being taken in line with the Medical Teaching Institution Law implemented by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to improve patients’ care at the state-run hospitals. Directives in this regard are being issued to the entire primary and district level hospitals to refer the patients to Peshawar only when they don’t have facilities for them, the officials say. Currently, the patients are rushed to Peshawar without any referral chit from their native towns’ doctors. Officials said that People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI), a national organisation, used the referral proformas to refer patients from basic health units to rural health centres and beyond. The PPHI, which manages more than 500 basic health units in17 districts of the province, could be reached for a province-wide referral system from BHU to tertiary hospitals. Primary and district health centres will refer patients to Peshawar only if they don’t have the facilities
Officials said that district level facilities would write if a patient was transported to another hospital that he or she had left against medical advice. “There will be a proper audit about admission,” they said. “Actually we floated the idea because 50 per cent patients coming from different districts are curable at their native hospitals and we want to develop a proper referral system,” Dr Tahir Shah, one of the 10-member Board of Governors (BoGs), of the Lady Reading Hospital, told Dawn. Only the Accident and Emergency Department of the hospital receives 4,000 patients in 24 hours, which causes additional burden on staff and leaves room for medical mistakes that harm the patients. “We have about 15 appendix and other minor operations in LRH every day. These could be done in local hospitals and as a result patients with chronic illnesses have to wait for longer period,” he said. The BoGs wasted much of its time since it was established five months ago because of its wrangling with employees, including doctors, paramedics and nurses, who are unwilling to opt for new system, but LRH is still ahead of Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Complex Abbottabad which have yet to make the desirable progress. These hospitals are now free of health department. These will now be run by medical, hospital and nursing directors, who will implement the new policy on the advice of the BoGs. The BoGs couldn’t take any administrative decisions as these posts are yet to be filled. Dr Tahir said that referral system would ease workload on the hospitals and patients would receive proper care. “We are establishing pharmacy with three-month stock from where all essential and life-saving drugs could be provided to the serious patients. Currently, LRH locally purchase drugs on patient to patient basis which is highly expensive.” Dr Tahir said that the hospital pharmacy would procure drugs manufactured by standard companies after approval by committees of senior professors. He said that maintenance and cleanliness were other priorities. Repairs of lifts, making operational MRI, CT scanners and other investigative facilities, were desperately needed to strengthen the hospital, he added. Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1198327/referral-system-to-reduce-burden-on-tertiary-care-hospitals
PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Monday arrested four persons including former provincial minister Makhdum Syed Murid Kazim and three revenue officials on charges of corruption and misuse of authority in a case of alleged illegal transfer of precious government land to the Naval Families Rehabilitation Organisation (NFRO) and other individuals. The arrested persons -- Syed Murid Kazim; Qayyum Nawaz , the then district officer (revenue and estate) currently posted as assistant commissioner in Lakki Marwat; Riaz Mohammad, the district officer revenue and estate; and Gul Hassan, an assistant at Board of Revenue -- will be produced before an accountability court on Tuesday (today) for getting their physical remand. The NAB alleges that Murid Kazim and the three officials were involved in illegal transfer of 1,976-Kanal valuable state land, situated in Dera Ismail Khan, as alternate land to NFRO in 2010 and subsequently unlawful transfer of 182-Kanal residential land to officers/officials of revenue department as kickbacks. In a press release, it is claimed that NAB chairman rejected the voluntary return application of the suspects and ordered to arrest them without any delay. Murid Kazim and three revenue officials are accused of illegal transfer of state land
A meeting of the executive board of NAB on July 15 authorised investigation in the case. The meeting also decided to refer the case of retired Commodore Sarfaraz Afzal of NFRO to Pakistan Navy for appropriate action as per rules. Mr Kazim was elected as independent MPA during the 2008 general elections from PK-68 DI Khan. Later he joined Awami National Party and served as provincial minister for revenue. He lost the 2013 general elections while contesting on ANP’s ticket. According to NAB, in 2009 the director of NFRO, Bahawalpur, sent an application, stating that about 1,976-Kanal land allotted to Pakistan Navy in DI Khan was not cultivable therefore it may be exchanged with better and cultivable land. As per rules, allotment of alternate land was the competency of chief minister of the province, but Mr Kazim being revenue minister misused his authority and directed Board of Revenue to put up note for allotment of alternate land to NFRO Bahawalpur and gave illegal approval to the transfer of 1,976-Kanal land to the organisation. The release says that Riaz Mohammad allegedly included valuable commercial and residential properties in the proposal which were later on illegally allotted to officers and officials of revenue department. It is alleged that Mr Kazim got allotted 50-Kanal land in the name of his close associate Syed Atta Hussain Shah. Similarly, Gul Hassan allegedly got 33-Kanal land in DI Khan and Qayyum Nawaz got four Kanals and three marlas in the heart of DI Khan City. The NAB claims that 100-Kanal land worth millions of rupees has already been vacated as voluntary return and has been returned to government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1198320/former-minister-among-four-arrested-for-corruption
