KOHAT: MNA Shehryar Afridi has said a Pakistan State Oil depot will soon be reopened in Kohat after 13 years.

The depot located on the Rawalpindi Road was closed in 2008 during the fight against militancy.

Talking to mediaperosns here on Sunday, he said the owners of filling stations had to pay extra rent on transportation of oil from Peshawar and sell the commodity at the fixed rate, which resulted in lesser profit margins for them.

Mr Afridi recalled that the army had shut down the facility when the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had occupied tribal subdivision of Darra Adamkhel and Jawaki.

Shehzad Ahmed, an owner of a filling station, told Dawn on phone that they had to pay extra 60 paisa on each liter as transportation charges which reduced their profit margins.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION: Provincial communication minister Riaz Khan has said the chief minister will soon perform the groundbreaking of the 16-kilometre Rehmanabad Road in oil and gas-rich Shakardarra area.

He also ordered the chief executive officer of the communication and works department to take action against the negligent officers for delaying completion of Tarli Bridge in the area.

A statement issued here on Sunday said former law minister Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi of PTI from KP-81 had called on the minister the other day and complained about the delay in launching of work on Karapa-Shakardarra, Rehmanbad, Nandarka and many other roads due to paucity of funds.

CLEANLINESS DRIVE: Orakzai deputy commissioner Mohammad Khalid has said encroachments will be removed from both sides of the under-construction Zera-Dabori Highway.

Speaking at a press conference in Kalaya on Sunday, he said tree plantation would also be carried on both sides of all the roads. The deputy commissioner said the tehsil municipal administrations of upper and lower Orakzai, district administration, the police, and volunteers would take part in the cleanliness drive.

WATER SHORTAGE: Residents of Sector-I of the posh KDA Town and Malangabad area have been facing water shortage for several weeks due to disconnection of electricity to a tubewell.

The operator of the tubewell in Malangabad area said the Water Supply and Sanitation Company had shut down the tubewell a month ago on the pretext that the consumers did not pay the water bills regularly.

Noor Islam, president of KDA residents association, told Dawn that there was no drinking water for ablution in mosques. He said water was provided to all the sectors of the town through tanks, but not the Sector-I.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2021