SWABI: The people of various localities falling in NA-13, Swabi-II constituency have demanded of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders to ensure provision of natural gas to their areas before the next general elections, otherwise, they won’t support the party’s candidates.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, they said the PTI leaders, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar and his brother MNA Aqibullah Khan, had repeatedly claimed that they had paid Rs300 million to Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) for provision of natural gas to their localities, but work on the project was yet to be launched.

A month back, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak visited the district and inaugurated gas supply to Kotha village.

The locals said supply of gas pipes had become possible after the Peshawar High Court verdict in favour of MNA Aqibullah who had filed a writ petition, demanding lifting of the federal government’s ban on gas provision.

People of Maini village said if the provision of gas lingered on they won’t vote for PTI leaders in the next elections.

“The then PPP government brought the gas pipes about 15 years back and dumped them in the Kunda Mor area, but when the PML-N assumed power they shifted the same to the constituency of MNA Capt retired Safdar in Mansehra district,” Sallauddin of Maini village complained.

Similarly, people of Kotha village said Mr Qaisar was only focusing on Marghuz area which was his native town, and asked him to also focus on other villages.

Niaz Mohammad, a local PTI leader, said people had attached great expectations to the party leadership, and if it failed to fulfill its pledge about the gas provision it would have far-reaching impact on the party’s popularity in the district.

The residents of Baja village hoped that Rangaiz Khan, the PTI’s former district president, would play his due role in provision of gas to the village.

The residents of Bamkhel village said the main pipeline passed through their village but they were ignored by the SNGPL in provision of gas.

When contacted, PTI leaders said they were striving to complete the gas project before the upcoming general elections.

However, sources in SNGPL said it was difficult for them to complete the project worth Rs1.22 billion before the general polls.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2017