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PESHAWAR The NWFP Assembly through a unanimously-adopted resolution on Monday called upon the federal government to exempt the people of the Malakand division from paying utility bills.
The resolution was tabled by provincial Minister for Environment Wajid Ali Khan.
Members of the NWFP Assembly also demanded that the government should register thousands of internally displaced persons of Malakand who had not yet been registered.
Speaking on a point of order, MPA from Shangla Zahir Shah Khan raised the issue of displaced persons left from registration in Shangla and other districts of the Malakand division, demanding that the government should compensate the affected families at the earliest. Thousands of affected people had not been registered, he said.
He demanded that the government should stop what he called stepmotherly attitude towards the displaced IDPs of Shangla.
Parliamentary leader of PPP-S Sikandar Hayat Sherpao supported the mover and urged the government to register the IDPs forthwith. The people of Malakand, he added, had passed through a terrible situation but the government had even not registered them.
Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani had announced waiving of utility bills in the militancy-hit Malakand division, but a notification in this regard has not been issued so far.
Mr Sherpao said crops, orchards, businesses and markets had been destroyed during in the region, leading to unemployment and poverty. He demanded that the government should compensate the unregistered displaced people and help them at this critical juncture. He said the policy regarding IDPs' registration should be reviewed, adding this was a sensitive issue and the government should not politicise it.
MPA from Upper Dir Bacha Saleh said that like other parts of Malakand, the Upper Dir district had also been affected by militancy and the subsequent military operation.
He said the courageous people of the district had stood up against militants at the cost of their lives and properties, but the government had not compensated them for their losses.
PML parliamentary leader Qalandar Lodhi, MPA from Shangla Fazlullah, Maulvi Ubaidullah, Sardar Shamoom Yar and Hafiz Akhtar Ali also demanded registration of the IDPs.
Responding to objections raised by the lawmakers, provincial Minister for Environment Wajid Ali Khan said flaws in the registration process would be removed. We will try our level best to convince the federal government on restarting the registration process, he pledged.
The provincial assembly also admitted an adjournment motion for discussion on the alleged presence and activities of US security agency 'Blackwater' in Peshawar and the Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda.
The issue was raised by JUI-F MPA Dr Iqbal Din Fana. He claimed that 'Blackwater' had established offices in Peshawar and also acquired land in Shabqadar. He said the government should inform the assembly about what he called the mysterious activities of the foreign agency.
Opposition leader Mohammad Akram Durrani, who also belongs to the JUI-F, supported the mover, asking the Speaker to admit the issue for discussion.
Provincial Law Minister Arshid Abdullah said the prime minister had already refuted the media reports on the presence of Blackwater in the country, which should be a sufficient answer for the mover. When the JUI-F members insisted on referring the issue for discussion in the assembly, the minister said The JUI-F is a coalition partner of the PPP-led federal government and it should accept the decision of the prime minister. If the JUI-F, he added, did not accept the decision of the federal government, it should quit the government.
Later, the Speaker put the adjournment motion for vote in the house, which admitted it for discussion.
