Corruption probe underway against six ministers: CM

Source Dawn

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has denied the existence of a forward bloc in Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and said that some members of his party have demanded removal of corrupt ministers.

He said this while talking exclusively to Dawn at Azeem Bagh, the residence of his adviser MPA Amjid Afridi, on the occasion of marriage of his son here on Saturday.

He said that allegations of corruption against six ministers were being investigated and if anybody was found guilty he would be removed from the provincial cabinet.

He hoped that the talk of forward bloc would automatically end after removal of corrupt ministers, if any.

The chief minister said that at present the government had stopped release of development funds.

He said that the government would first put in place a mechanism to stop corruption and from next year funds would be released regularly as required by the ministers, MPAs and the government departments for development projects.

On the issue of royalty from gas and oil of Kohat, the chief minister said that they were trying to divert additional funds of the MPAs and MNAs in Kohat and Karak to development and spend it on construction of hospitals and other big projects of public interest in southern districts of the province.

He said that at present the royalty and routine funds of parliamentarians were not being used properly and in this regard talks were underway with them to spend the funds in a purposeful way.

About local government elections, Mr Khattak said that the provincial government was ready for holding the polls and waiting for the decision and declaration of date by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

He said that they would take full part in the LG polls and if required form alliance at district level with like-minded parties.

Asked about the peace talks with Taliban, the chief minister said that the federal government was doing its job in a positive manner.

He said that some elements did not want that the dialogue should continue for establishing peace. He hoped that the talks would resume soon.

meeting for controlling corruption in kohat

Source Dawn

Kohat Commissioner Jalalud Din has asked the officials to follow the new guidelines issued by the provincial government about transparency in development projects.

He was chairing a meeting in his office here on Wednesday that was attended by deputy commissioners of Kohat, Karak and Hangu besides heads of line departments.

The commissioner said that strict legal and departmental action would be taken against anyone, found involved in corruption. He said traditional relationship between the officials and contractors as it resulted in construction of substandard roads and buildings.The commissioner stressed the need for timely completion of projects to save time and money of the government.

Meanwhile, Kohat Assistant Commissioner Sajjad Khan was attacked when he was demarcating land in Gandiali area for construction of a degree college on Wednesday.

He was accompanied by contractor and revenue staff when the incident occurred. The people, who fired at him, first tried to stop the demarcation process by saying that the land allotted for the college was disputed.

The people opened firing on the survey team when it did not listen to them and started demarcating land for the college. However, the survey team managed to escape unhurt.

Police launched a search operation in the area after the incident to arrest the accused.

6 arrested from patwaris’ offices

Source The News

The anti-corruption department Thursday arrested six persons from various offices of the patwaris (revenue officials) and recovered fake land documents from their possession, sources said.

Inspector Sattar Khan Khattak, the anti-corruption’s Kohat circle in-charge, said that his unit had received complaints from the public that some persons were illegally working as assistants to the patwaris at their offices in Kohat district.

He said a team raided the offices and arrested six persons identified as Imam Al Hussain, Abu Bakr, Mehtab Ali, Pir Badshah, Yasir and Israr and seized fake records from their possession. He said the arrested persons were produced before the court, which handed them to the anti-corruption police on one-day remand. After the incident, the patwaris announced pen-down strike for an indefinite period.

`Corruption` stops work on Kohat monuments

Source Dawn

District coordination officer Shahidullah Khan has stopped work on two monuments being built here at a cost Rs6.6 million due to alleged corruption and wastage of public funds.
One of the monuments is attributed to the founder of Khudai Khidmatgar Tehrik, late Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and the other to a less known leader of the movement.
Sources quoted the DCO as saying that the actual cost of the monument of a little known khudai khidmatgar, Shehanshah Wali, which was being constructed at the old bus stand chowk, was not more than Rs300,000. However, the authorities had approved Rs3.6 million from the fund of MNA Khursheed Begum for its construction.
A local leader of Awami National Party, Shahabullah, had proposed the construction of one monument in Hangu chowk having three pillars and a globe atop them with a sketch of Abdul Ghaffar Khan.
When asked about the matter, Shahabullah said that according to his proposal the sketch of the leader had to be adorned with gold and silver work and the cost of the project was calculated to be Rs3 million.
Asked about spending money on such projects, he justified it by saying that Abdul Ghaffar Khan was their spiritual and political leader and moreover it was the government of ANP in the province.
The intellectuals and majority of the people of Kohat have been demanding of the government to build a monument or dedicate any corner of university hall to the legendary poet late Ahmed Faraz and former West Pakistan chief justice late Mohammad Rustam Kayani, but such suggestions were ignored.
When the city fathers demolished the famous and historical Jinnah library and constructed a commercial plaza it forced Ahmed Faraz to remorsefully announce that he would not come to his hometown, Kohat, in his life.