December 13, 2007	Thursday	Zilhaj 2, 1428

PESHAWAR, Dec 12: People in the Ghaziabad suburb of the provincial capital have put up a banner in their area requesting former lawmakers and ministers not to ask for votes from them in the general election.

While banners, hoardings and posters of the candidates had been placed in every nook and corner of the city, the unusual banner by the residents of Ghaziabad in Pishtakhara Payan area on Bara Road was becoming a source of amusement for passers-by.

Since the banner was put up on a main road, it hardly misses the attention of motorists and pedestrians passing by.

Although, the banner does not point out specific former lawmakers, the inhabitants of the area told Dawn that it had been meant for the MNAs and MPAs belonging to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) since they had not initiated a single development scheme in their locality.

“No vote for ex-MNA/MPA. Former ministers don’t embarrass us by asking for vote,” the banner states.

“Even though there are about 250 houses in the neighbourhood, we still don’t have any supply of natural gas. We use kerosene oil, dung cakes, firewood and LPG burners for our daily use,” complained Yaqoob Khan, a local elder.

Haji Imran, another elder, said that in the last elections they had voted for the MMA in NA-2 and PF-6 constituencies thinking that there were simple people and would serve the masses.

However, he said, when the MMA candidates, Maulana Rehmatullah

Khalil and Kashif Azam, were elected as MNA and MPA from their area, they turned a blind eye towards their problems.

He said the decision to put up the banner was taken jointly by the people of the area.

“There are many problems in our area, including lack of drinking water, electricity, sanitation, natural gas, etc but the elected representatives rarely turn up to address our grievances,” Mr Yaqoob said.

He informed that an electricity transformer in their area often breaks down and last time they had to pool in Rs70,000 for its repair. He added that in summers, the power supply becomes even more irregular.

“The tube well in the area is not sufficient and due to narrow water pipes, the main water tank often takes six hours to fill.

Since the electricity gets suspended regularly, the tank hardly gets filled creating shortage of water,” Mr Yaqoob said.

Another resident, Samiullah Khan, also complained that the drains, roads and streets had not been repaired in their locality.