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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Hospital in Kohat being used as godown

Source Dawn


A government hospital built 30 years ago to provide healthcare to residents of 23 villages in Ustarzai area, has been turned into a godown for dumping wheat and other stuff. Similarly, a primary school built in 1910 in the same area has not been reconstructed or even renovated.
Talking to this correspondent on Monday, residents complained that the Ustarzai hospital had been turned into a godown for storing wheat and other stuff in its rooms.
They said there was no regular OPD and medicines for the poor patients.
The only X-ray machine is lying out of order for several years and there is no lady doctor and other specialist staff, forcing people to go to Kohat from the border of Orakzai Agency for treatment, they further complained. According to them, many patients expire on their way while several women gave birth to babies while travelling on a long bumpy kacha road.
Similarly, they complained that for the past several decades classes were being held in a rented building as no government took interest in rebuilding or even renovating the old building of the school.
“We have been tired of asking the government officials about the new school building. It’s ironical that the ANP government which claims to have placed education on top of its agenda also failed to take the issue seriously,” other residents informed this reporter.
A few months back a former chief justice of the Peshawar High Court Syed Ibne Ali, who is a candidate for the assembly seat of ANP, announced reconstruction of the school, but failed to realise his promise, the local people complained. Promises were also made by the two-time MPA and now incumbent minister Engr Syed Qalbe Hassan, MPA Musarat Shafi and MNA Khursheed Begum but all proved false.
The residents alleged that billions of rupees were given to the elected representatives during last four years but they failed to benefit the masses.

Monday, December 24, 2012

ANP MNA among 5 hurt in Kohat road mishap

Source The News


Five persons including the Awami National Party (ANP) MNA Pir Dilawar Shah sustained injuries in a road mishap near Gulshanabad Chowk here on Saturday, sources said.

The sources said that Pir Dilawar Shah along with his family was on his way home from Islamabad when his van collided with a vehicle near Gulshanabad Chowk on the Rawalpindi Road. Five members of his family including his younger brother Pir Zakir Shah and women and children were injured. They were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Kohat from where two of the injured were referred to a hospital in Peshawar.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Intra-party rifts may hit PPP, ANP in Kohat

Source Dawn


Intra-party differences within Kohat chapters of Pakistan People’s Party and Awami National Party, respectively, could lead to problems for both the parties in coming general election.
Recently, an ideological group has been formed in the PPP after nominations of new district and divisional organisations by the party president and provincial minister Syed Qalbe Hassan.
In this regard, hundreds of old guards of PPP ideological group took out a protest rally ‘Qalbe hatao PPP Bachao’ against the incumbent divisional president the other day. They also chanted slogans against the minister and displayed placards to oppose formation of new organisations.
Those who spoke on the occasion included former PPP district president Abdur Rauf, former secretary general Mazhar Khan and former city president Nazeer Gulzar, who all were ousted from party positions on the instructions of high command.
In their speeches they rejected the district and divisional organisations and demanded accommodation of old guards in the party setup. They alleged that the new office-bearers were ousted from the party in 2007 and in fact formed the ‘B’ team of PML-N in Kohat. They also demanded action against the minister who, they alleged, had divided the PPP.
Similarly, an ideological group within the ANP, Kohat, has alleged that the present office-bearers were elected through forged elections. At a meeting the old workers announced to hold a convention
of disgruntled workers and review the peace agreement reached with the district leadership six months ago.
The old guards include former secretary general Masood Khan, Shaukat Hussain, Javed Khattak, Farooq Shah, Adnan Bukhari, Tufail Bangash and others.
They alleged that Saeed Shah got elected as district president through own-appointed building contractors as councillors to grab the position.

Govt asked to reopen oil depot in Kohat

Source The News


Consumers here Saturday asked the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to resume supply from the Pakistan State Oil’s fuel depot in Babari Banda that has been closed some five years ago due to security concerns.

The consumers and transporters said the closure of the depot caused increase in prices of petroleum products in the area.

They said the government gradually reopened almost all the closed oil depots but the one in Kohat was yet to be made operational. They said the facility used to supply oil to petrol pumps in Hangu, Thall, Kohat, Kurram Agency, Orakzai Agency, Darra Adamkhel, Karak and some parts of Punjab province.

Chaudhry Sajjad and Salman Afridi, owners of the filling stations in Kohat said they were forced to buy fuel in Peshawar and Punjab and have to transport the product through Darra Adamkhel at their own risk.

Planted explosives damage telephone exchange in Kohat

Source Dawn


Unidentified terrorists blew up the building of PTCL exchange in Lachi town of Kohat district in the small hours of Sunday.
Police said that terrorists planted explosives at the boundary wall of the telephone exchange building and blew it up. The blast damaged the boundary wall and the building. Nobody was injured in the explosion, they said.
Police and the bomb disposal squad reached the spot soon after the incident and collected evidence. Police registered a case against unidentified terrorists.