KOHAT: District nazim Maulana Niaz Mohammad has lamented non-implementation of the repeated resolutions passed over the past one year by the district council seeking funds for repair of the dilapidated city roads.

Talking to Dawn, he said the council resolutions did not go beyond the office of the deputy commissioner. “We are told every now and then that the provincial government has no funds for repair and maintenance of the roads.” He regretted that people had been subjected to arduous journeys on the city roads and those leading to other districts.

The district nazim said a year back the contractor dug up the Bannu road in Tappi area, but due to nonpayment of dues, he stopped further progress on the road.

Rasheed Ahmed, senior vice president of the Kohat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said a small stretch of the road leading to the KDA Town and district headquarters hospital had not been completed in two years making it very difficult for the residents, particularly patients to reach their destinations in time.

Similarly, the Hangu and Bannu bypass roads, which were dug up by the contractor two years back, had not yet been carpeted, troubling the motorists and pedestrians.

The people, who used to walk along the Bannu and Hangu bypasses and Jarwanda road due to fresh air coming from the sprawling guava orchards and greenery, are now forced to inhale dust as the roads have become dirt tracks for want of repairs.

An official of the communication and works department, Engr Hamraz, when contacted told Dawn that delay in repair of roads was being caused by repeated revisions of feasibility reports ordered by the provincial finance department. “Now the finance department has sanctioned Rs450 million against their demand of Rs550 million without assigning any plausible reason,” he said.

It may be mentioned here that earlier the tehsil municipal administration, Kohat, received Rs3.5 million annually to ensure repair and maintenance of city roads. But since the provincial government has decided to directly fund the communication and works department the situation has worsened.

BOOKED: The district police on Monday booked Allama Ameen Shaheedi of Muttahida Wahdatul Muslimeen and his local host Dr Syed Zulfiqar for violating a ban on the former‘s entry into Kohat imposed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, and addressing a religious gathering in Ustarzai here.

SHO of the Ustarzai Payan police registered cases against Shaheedi and Dr Zulfiqar. A statement issued from the office of the district police officer said the provincial home department had banned the entry of ulema from various sects into Kohat during Muharram. They also included Ameen Shaheedi.

TEN ARRESTED: The police on Monday arrested 10 persons for festive firing during wedding parties across the district and also seized weapons from them.

The crackdown was launched by the police stations of Jangle Khel, Lachi, Riaz Mohammad Shaheed and Jarma. The weapons recovered from them were two Kalashnikovs, two 12-bore repeaters, four pistols and 13 chargers. Later, the court sent them on judicial remand to Kohat prison.

PROMOTION SOUGHT: The all teachers association of Frontier Region of Kohat has demanded implementation of the long-delayed service upgradation and one-step promotion.

The demand was made at a meeting chaired by Aman Shah Afridi. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Afridi resented that despite numerous promises made by the government the teachers of FR Kohat had not been upgraded or awarded one-step promotion.

The meeting formed a committee to take up the issue with the relevant government officials.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2016