KOHAT: The Kohat district has received over Rs620 million as royalty of oil and gas production for development work, said executive district officer, finance, Abdul Wahid Khattak while talking to Dawn on Wednesday.

He said that half of the funds had been equally distributed between the PK-37 and PK-39 constituencies while the other half was allocated for the city’s municipality limits.

The royalty funds are given by the federal government to the provincial government and then released to the gas producing district.

Similarly, MNA Shehryar Afridi’s fund of Rs120 million has also been released.

Mr Khattak said that the projects had been identified at the meetings of district development advisory committee.

Half of funds goes to PK-37, PK-39 constituencies; development projects identified

He said that work on some projects had already been started.

However, the ground situation is dismal because most of the local people in KP-37 and KP-39 are still deprived of drinking water.

In some areas, the OGDCL has spent millions of rupees on providing water through tankers, but could not lay a pipeline from Indus River to solve the problem on permanent basis.

A local elder, Fazalur Rehman, told Dawn that due to plying of hundreds of oil tankers from the oil producing areas of Kohat to Attock Refinery the roads had been turned into dirt tracks full of ditches.

Despite generating billions of rupees annually from Kohat, the government has not provided a good health facility and jobs to the local people.

Though the district has been receiving millions of rupees every year from the last 10 years, nothing has changed for the good of people.

EXPLORATION WORK: After a delay of three years the Hungarian oil exploration company, MOL, has been asked to resume work in Hangu district following security assurance by the administration and elders.

The work was suspended in Sarki Chamba Gul area due to tussle between the local people over renting land to the company and law and order situation.

Now the administration has decided to establish a checkpost in the area to ensure safety of the workers and installations.

Deputy commissioner, Hangu, chaired a meeting of the MOL company representatives, MPs and elders of the area in his office on Wednesday.

He hoped that after resumption of work the local people would get jobs.

‘VACCINE REACTION’: At least 27 children landed in hospital after they were given measles vaccine in remote Dalan area of Hangu district on Wednesday, police said.

According to Hangu police, as soon as the health staff administered vaccine to children in the girls school and a house in Dalan 27 of them collapsed.

The police said that they shifted the affected children to a local hospital where they recovered after getting treatment.

Meanwhile, five children who were administered anti-measles vaccine were brought to Liaquat Memorial Hospital, Kohat, on Wednesday.

Dr Luqman, children specialist at the LMH, told this correspondent that the children were discharged after giving them first aid. He said that the affected children were complaining of giddiness.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2014