Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Refugees seem to be liability for both Pakistan and Afghanistan
PESHAWAR: Around three million Afghan refugees (registered and unregistered) seem to be a liability both for Pakistan and Afghanistan. A humanitarian problem is being associated with other issues like border management and terrorism etc.
Pakistan following the spirit of “Ansar-i-Madinah” had welcomed millions of Afghans with open arms in early 1980s. Islamabad is now abandoning the spirit of Muslim brotherhood and asking refugees that “enough is enough.” Afghans are blamed for the country’s law and order situation, terrorism and unemployment.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz’s frank statementthat “refugee camps have become safe havens for terrorists” indicates major shift in the Islamabad’s Afghan policy.
Read: Afghan refugees get another stay extension
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak is giving provocative statements against Afghans, demanding federal government not to give further extension to refugees. The chief minister’s statements also encouraged traders and other groups to hold anti-refugees rallies in Peshawar.
“General perception in Kabul is that government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is close to army so refugees are victimised,” says a senior journalist from the Afghan capital. He said that hatred against Pakistan was 10 times high after clashes at Torkham.
History shows 100 per cent repatriation of refugees never happened anywhere in the world
On the other hand, Afghanistan, which was appealing refugees to come back to their country in mid 80s, is now reluctant to accept its own countrymen. Afghan government plea is that its internal security situation and economy are not in a position to absorb this huge load. The Afghan government recently asked Pakistan to continue its “hospitality” at least till 2020.
After the fall of Dr Najibullah government in 1992, and the subsequent rise of Taliban and fall of the regime in 2001, more than five million Afghans returned to their country under the voluntary repatriation programme.
At that time Afghanistan was in total chaos, but despite that the load was absorbed. Currently Afghanistan has an elected government and all other nation building institutions including the armed forces have established themselves well to steer the country out of the crises, but Kabul is not willing to accept its own people.
In 1986, President Dr Najibullah under National Reconciliation Policy was appealing refugees to give up refuge, because he had foreseen hard days for refugees living in Pakistan.
“I am very much concerned about the future of your children living miserable life in camps. You have 5,000 years old history. Please come back to your own country and your brothers here in Afghanistan are ready to share bread and butter with you,” Dr Najib had appealed refugees while addressing the nation on TV and radio before the end of his stint.
Late Dr Najibullah’s predictions are now proving accurate. Afghans, either having refugee status or unregistered, are in trouble. They are complaining about being tortured, detained and harassed in Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Quetta.
“Police are raiding our homes. Poor Afghans are subjected to extortion for securing their release,” said young Mohammad Khalid, who is running a sweet shop in Peshawar’s Board Bazaar.
UNHCR has set up help lines in the refugees’ concentrated areas to provide them with legal assistance in case police or any other agency arrests them.
When Najibullah government was coaxing and urging its countrymen to return to their homes, Pakistan’s state-run media was running aggressive propaganda campaign discouraging refugees from going back to their country. The then government in Kabul was named in the popular Pashto parlance as “Goodagai Hakumat” (puppet government).
Back then, the Afghan refugees were treated as ‘endangered’ species. They were enjoying full liberty. They did not require registration. Frozen meat of sacrificial animals and dates were transported through chartered planes from the Holy Land to Peshawar, Quetta for onward distribution in the refugee camps scattered across Pakistan. At that time refugees were considered as strategic and economic assets of Islamabad.
When much water has flown under the bridge, Pakistan has realised that it is time to say goodbye to refugees. All of a sudden, Minister for SAFRON Abdul Qadir Baloch Refugees seem to be liability for both Pakistan, Afghanistan came up with statistics that Afghans have encroached upon one million jobs.
Sources in SAFRON say that hasty decision about the future of refugees can cause a lot of blowback for the Pak-Afghan ties that are already at low ebb. They say that disagreement over the modalities for repatriation existed between security establishment and civilian setup.
From the horse’s mouth, the army is not in favour of giving extension to registered refugees and wants to send them back to their country while civilian setup suggests to give them one time extension till December 2017.
“Stakeholders are not on the same page and unilateral action against refugees will have serious implications for the country,” said the source, who is dealing with the refugees for the last two decades.
The UN-funded voluntary repatriation process is going very slow. Less than 5,000 refugees have gone back to their homes since January this year, but UN and Afghan government are asking Pakistan to be more hospitable.
This discouraging situation forced the UN refugee agency to increase cash assistance from $200 to $400 per head to make the package more attractive. A proposal is under consideration to fix return package at $3,000 per family.
“Voluntary repatriation has proved to be a futile exercise and it will take decades to send all Afghans to their country under this programme,” said the official.
History shows that 100 per cent repatriation of refugees had never happened anywhere in the world. Some sections are reintegrated into the local population and the host countries grant them citizenship. Currently Pakistan hosts 1.5 registered refugees, who give birth to around 70,000 children every year. Roughly 87 per cent of the total refugees are Pakhtuns.
“Like other countries Pakistan can integrate Afghans too. Almost 70 per cent of the refugee population is between the age of 15 and 25. They are born and brought up in Pakistan and do businesses here so why not give them citizenship,” said one senior functionary.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268982/refugees-seem-to-be-liability-for-both-pakistan-and-afghanistan
Govt asked to set up processing units, cold storages
PESHAWAR: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has urged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to set up processing units and modern cold storages under public-private partnership to take advantage of the rich potential of horticulture and agriculture resources in the province.
FPCCI’s standing committee on horticulture and food exports chairman Ahmad Jawad in a statement here on Sunday said that horticulture sector had a significant export potential, particularly off-season fruits and vegetables that had a high demand in certain regional markets. “There is a need to adopt latest technology for enhancing export of these high value products,” he added.
Mr Jawad said that Pakistan had certain geographical advantages and it was considered a backyard farm of the Central Asian States and the Middle East with remarkable potential for export of agriculture products.
He said that he had written a letter to the provincial agriculture minister to pay proper attention to improvement of the agriculture infrastructure and allocate sufficient funds in budget for the purpose but he did not respond to the suggestions.
Mr Jawad said that provincial government allocated only Rs8.63 billion for the development of agriculture sector in the budget for 2016-17. “We have to understand that small landholdings have adversely impacted crop yields and productivity in the province. Small scale farmers do not have access to sufficient resources to participate in high value-added markets,” he said.
According to Jawad, the production process in the province is “supply-driven instead of demand-oriented”. “Farmers with small holdings are unable to gain direct access to markets,” he said, adding farmers had to travel at least 10 miles to reach the nearest market.
Mr Jawad said that only 1.8 million hectares out of 2.96 million hectares of cultivable land in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were being used to grow crops. He said that diversification into horticulture and rural-based agriculture processing units offered promising avenues for increasing the income of rural households.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268980/govt-asked-to-set-up-processing-units-cold-storages
Collection of timber from Panjkora River banned
TIMERGARA: The Lower Dir administration on Sunday imposed ban on collection of timber and tree branches from Panjkora River in the limits of the district for one month during the monsoon season.
Talking to mediapersons, deputy commissioner Irfanullah Wazir said that the step had been taken to save human lives. He said that people living near the river always collected firewood, branches of trees, herb and shrubs during flood in the river. He said that so far several human lives had been lost during that practice.
He said that ban had already been imposed on fishing and gathering near the river in Lower Dir. He said that the violators would be dealt with an iron hand.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268975/collection-of-timber-from-panjkora-river-banned
New fiscal begins but LGs yet to approve budgets
PESHAWAR: Though the new financial year has begun, all local bodies across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have failed to approve their respective budgets for 2016-17 in violation of the local government law.
Under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013, the nazims of district, tehsil/town, village and neighbourhood councils were bound to get budgets approved from their respective councils before the start of the fiscal 2016-17 on the pattern of the federal and provincial governments.
However, several district and tehsil nazims Dawn spoke to held the provincial government responsible for the ‘unlawful delay’ in the passage of their budgets insisting it has yet to inform local bodies about their share in the provincial budget.
Nazims point the finger at govt insisting it hasn’t informed them about share in provincial budget
Section 35 of the LG Act states, “Before the commencement of the next financial year, each nazim shall present the budget for consideration and approval of the respective local council.”
One of the district nazims asked how he could make the budget of his government when it was not clear how much funds the provincial government would offer in light of the Provincial Finance Commission Award.
Now as the nazims are unable to get budgets passed from their respective councils, the law empowers the provincial government to step in and make budgets for them, insisted officials in the local government department.
According to them, sub-section 4 of Section 35 states, “in case a budget is not approved by the local council before commencement of the financial year to which it relates, provincial government shall prepare, approve and authenticate budget for the local government.”
The new financial year has begun three days ago but the people at the helm of affairs have yet to distribute the due ADP share totaling Rs33.9 billion among district, tehsil/town, village and neighbourhood councils, officials said.
They said under the law, it was the responsibility of the provincial government to inform the administrations of all councils about their share in the provincial ADP so that they could make own development outlays.
Section 34 of the LG law says, “The provincial government shall, sufficiently before the beginning of each financial year, notify the provincial grants, which may be credited to the fund of a local government from the provincial consolidated fund.”
Shangla district nazim Niaz Ahmad told Dawn that the PTI government didn’t want to strengthen the local government system in the province.
“The provincial government has literally abandoned the local government system and considered it a burden on it,” he said.
Regarding the preparation and passage of the district budget, the nazim said under the LG law, 20 departments had been devolved to the districts, so he had to allocate funds for every devolved department but currently, he had no idea about his district’s share in the province’s funds.
He said he recently raised the issue during a high-level meeting, which was also attended by LG minister Inayatullah Khan and chief secretary Amjad Ali Khan, but both of them had no answer.
The nazim said some PTI ministers and a senior bureaucrat were opposed to the local government system ‘for no reason’ and even PTI chief Imran Khan knew it but he was silent about it.
When contacted, finance minister Muzafar Said denied the provincial government was making budgets for district, tehsils/town and village and neighbourhood councils in the wake of the nazims’ failure to approve 2016-17 budgets.
“We have allocated 30 per cent of the provincial ADP for all three tiers of the local government system to be distributed among districts soon,” he said.
Asked about the status of the Provincial Finance Commission Award under which funds are doled out to districts, the minister said the formula for distribution of funds had been made, while the process of the PFC award distribution was ‘under process’.
Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268787/new-fiscal-begins-but-lgs-yet-to-approve-budgets
No visible change in health delivery system
PESHAWAR: The public sector hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are yet to improve their performance despite the government’s announcement of unprecedented increase in salaries and allowances of the doctors, nurses and paramedics in past few months.
As opposed to workers of other departments who receive a traditional salary raise of 10 per cent in annual budget every year, the health department has been too generous to its employees. There have been lucrative benefits announced by the government during the last few months for the health staff.
The stipend of trainee medical officers (TMOs) was increased by Rs80,000 recently. The TMOs who would receive a stipend of Rs48,585 a month during their five-year training would now get up to Rs103,000 under a formula devised by the government. They will get enhanced stipend towards completion of their training period. In addition, they have also been given Rs15,000 a month in lieu of accommodation.
The province has about 2,200 TMOs in the public sector hospitals pursuing specialisation.
Health minister Shahram Tarakai told Dawn about the disciplinary actions the department had started against absent staff. “The government has raised the pays and now expects the health workers to ensure effective patient care in the hospitals,” he said, adding that the government had put in place a better monitoring system after which staff’s attendance had shown improvement.
The government has also given a cent per cent raise in stipend to the house officers to benefit 1,000 such officers in the province. These offices undergo one-year compulsory house job at the hospitals after passing the final year MBBS examinations. They have started receiving stipend of Rs52,000 a month, enhanced from earlier Rs27, 000.
To improve the patient care at the grassroots level, the government has awarded health professional allowance (HPA) as high as Rs140,000 a month to the medical officers in backward areas. For this purpose, the districts have been categorised and those who are willing to be posted in far-off areas would be entitled to more financial benefits.
The government has announced Rs10,000 HPA a month for nurses. It would benefit 12,000 paramedics and 5,000 nurses. Monthly stipend of student nurses has been increased to Rs20,000 a month from Rs5,000 under the present government.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan is advocating the policy of investment in human resources and in this case there has been almost 100 per cent increase in salaries, stipends and HPA of the employees, but the situation regarding the health delivery is yet to change for the good.
Mr Khan was right in saying that reforms agenda had been hampered by a “few people” through stay orders from courts whose interests were at stake under the new system. However, this is true for what is happening in a few hospitals where the government has implemented the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act 2015.
There is no legal obstacle to improve the patient care in about 2,000 health units in the province through effective administration at a time when record raise in salaries has been given to all the stakeholders running the health system. Associations of doctors, nurses and paramedics have held out assurances that they wouldn’t resort to strikes in future due to the tremendous benefits given by the government to all those involved in the health care provision, but the benefits are yet to trickle down to the people.
Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268784/no-visible-change-in-health-delivery-system
KP releases Rs7 billion for local bodies
PESHAWAR: The provincial finance department has released an amount of Rs7.204 billion to the three tiers of the local government, including district, tehsil/town and village/neighborhood councils, to carry out development schemes.
A statement issued here said the amount had been immediately transferred to the accounts of the concerned councils.
The finance department, through three separate notifications issued here on Friday, released a major chunk of Rs2.783 billion to the village and neighborhood councils, and Rs2.210 billion each to the district and tehsil/town administrations, respectively.
The statement said the finance department released the grants to the local government for the first quarter of the financial year, starting on July 1, under the Provincial Finance Commission without any discrimination.
It clarified that even political or administrative problems did not delay release of the funds to ensure that development process continued unhampered.
Meanwhile, Provincial Finance Minister Muzaffar Said praised his department for timely release of development funds to the district, tehsil and village/neighborhood councils.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268628/kp-releases-rs7-billion-for-local-bodies
PHC stays arrest of ex-VC in land corruption case
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday stopped the National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from arresting four former senior officials of the University of Peshawar, including vice-chancellor, in a case of alleged irregularities in the purchase of land for the university employees’ housing scheme.
A bench consisting of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Duad Khan suspended the NAB call-up notices issued to former VC Dr Azmat Hayat, former registrar Sheerinzada Khattak, former treasurer Sanaullah Khan and former chairperson of the Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Professor Farrukh Hussain – and issued a notice to the NAB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, asking it to explain position on the matter.
It issued the order on a petition of the former officials against the issuance of call-up notices to them by the NAB lately.
Court asks NAB to explain reason for issuing call-up notices to four suspects
The petitioner, Azmat Hayat, was the chairman of the board constituted university’s administration for the Peshawar University Employees Welfare Foundation, whereas the treasurer was its secretary and the other two petitioners were its members.
The board had decided to purchase a vast piece of land in 2010 to establish a campus and a housing scheme in Spin Kanre Kalan area of Nowshera.
The NAB suspected the said land was available at much cheaper rates and when the university decided to purchase the said land they allegedly included a middleman. It is suspected that the said middleman first purchased the land on cheaper rates and subsequently sold it out to the university at much higher price.
The provincial higher education department had also conducted an inquiry and recommended action against the culpable persons.
Barrister Yaseen Khan appeared for the petitioners and contended that his clients were issued call-up notices by the NAB in connection with the purchase of land for an employee’s housing scheme.
He said the NAB had started an inquiry in this regard on the basis of the false charge of the land’s purchase at exorbitant rates.
The lawyer said the owner of the said land was even now willing to re-purchase the land at the said land which showed that the land was purchased at much lower price.
He pointed out that earlier the KP Ehtesab Commission had launched an inquiry which was challenged before the high court.
The lawyer however said the NAB was also inquiring into the issue and therefore, the KPEC closed its inquiry.
BAIL GRANTED: The bench granted bail to an executive engineer of Pak-Public Works Department, Asif Khan, who was arrested by the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the charge of embezzling public funds during the construction of different development schemes in Batkhela and Swat.
Sardar Ali Raza, lawyer for the petitioner, said his client was earlier granted bail by the high court in two other identical cases.
He said the NAB instead of conducting different inquiries simultaneously against the petitioner had been coming up with new cases after completion of earlier inquiries.
The lawyer said the instant case a reference had already been filed by the NAB and he was no longer required to the bureau for the purpose of investigation.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268625/phc-stays-arrest-of-ex-vc-in-land-corruption-case
Afghans holding fake ID cards facing action
TIMERGARA: General Officer Commanding, Malakand division, Major-General Asif Ghafoor on Friday said action would be taken against Afghan refugees possessing fake Pakistani national identity card.
He was addressing a meeting of local government representatives, area elders, politicians, army officers and lawmakers at the Dir Scouts Fort here.
The GOC said the Pakistan Army would remain present in the region to maintain law and order and ensure security of western borders.
Commandant of Dir Task Force Colonel Khalid Mehmood Shafi, Lower Dir deputy commissioner Irfanullah Wazir, district nazim Rasool Khan, DPO Akbar Ali Shah, MPA Saeed Gul and tehsil nazim were also present on the occasion.
The GOC appreciated the people of Malakand for their sacrifices and full cooperation extended to security forces for eliminating militancy and said it was the public support that helped the Pakistan Army defeat terrorists.
“We know the people of Malakand fought side by side with the Pakistan army due to which the lasting peace prevails across Malakand today,” he said.
Major-General Asif Ghafoor said the fleeing terrorists were targeting soft targets in different areas of the country. “The next two or three months are very crucial for the country,” he said asking the people to immediately inform security forces if they spot suspicious activities in their respective areas.
The GOC said a temporary steel bridge was being installed at Khazana Bypass Road by the Pakistan Army.
He said the bridge would be opened to light traffic in few days. Major-General Asif Ghafoor said the establishment of cantonment in Swat would help establish the CMH Hospital, army public school and cadet college in the region.
He asked local residents to identify Afghan refugees involved in suspicious activities and inform security forces about them for action.
Meanwhile, opposition leader in the Lower Dir district council Malik Mohammad Zeb has demanded the inclusion of Khall tehsil in Lower Dir district before the next general elections.
He made the demand during a meeting with Lower Dir deputy commissioner Irfanullah Wazir at the latter’s office on Friday.
Also, the newly-appointed district health officer, Dr Shaukat Ali, on Thursday directed the administration of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Samar Bagh to make the emergency OPD and labour room functional without delay.
During a visit to the hospital, he also issued orders for the immediate utilisation of heavy machinery rusting away for years.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268620/afghans-holding-fake-id-cards-facing-action
PESHAWAR: Around three million Afghan refugees (registered and unregistered) seem to be a liability both for Pakistan and Afghanistan. A humanitarian problem is being associated with other issues like border management and terrorism etc.
Pakistan following the spirit of “Ansar-i-Madinah” had welcomed millions of Afghans with open arms in early 1980s. Islamabad is now abandoning the spirit of Muslim brotherhood and asking refugees that “enough is enough.” Afghans are blamed for the country’s law and order situation, terrorism and unemployment.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz’s frank statementthat “refugee camps have become safe havens for terrorists” indicates major shift in the Islamabad’s Afghan policy.
Read: Afghan refugees get another stay extension
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak is giving provocative statements against Afghans, demanding federal government not to give further extension to refugees. The chief minister’s statements also encouraged traders and other groups to hold anti-refugees rallies in Peshawar.
“General perception in Kabul is that government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is close to army so refugees are victimised,” says a senior journalist from the Afghan capital. He said that hatred against Pakistan was 10 times high after clashes at Torkham.
History shows 100 per cent repatriation of refugees never happened anywhere in the world
On the other hand, Afghanistan, which was appealing refugees to come back to their country in mid 80s, is now reluctant to accept its own countrymen. Afghan government plea is that its internal security situation and economy are not in a position to absorb this huge load. The Afghan government recently asked Pakistan to continue its “hospitality” at least till 2020.
After the fall of Dr Najibullah government in 1992, and the subsequent rise of Taliban and fall of the regime in 2001, more than five million Afghans returned to their country under the voluntary repatriation programme.
At that time Afghanistan was in total chaos, but despite that the load was absorbed. Currently Afghanistan has an elected government and all other nation building institutions including the armed forces have established themselves well to steer the country out of the crises, but Kabul is not willing to accept its own people.
In 1986, President Dr Najibullah under National Reconciliation Policy was appealing refugees to give up refuge, because he had foreseen hard days for refugees living in Pakistan.
“I am very much concerned about the future of your children living miserable life in camps. You have 5,000 years old history. Please come back to your own country and your brothers here in Afghanistan are ready to share bread and butter with you,” Dr Najib had appealed refugees while addressing the nation on TV and radio before the end of his stint.
Late Dr Najibullah’s predictions are now proving accurate. Afghans, either having refugee status or unregistered, are in trouble. They are complaining about being tortured, detained and harassed in Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Quetta.
“Police are raiding our homes. Poor Afghans are subjected to extortion for securing their release,” said young Mohammad Khalid, who is running a sweet shop in Peshawar’s Board Bazaar.
UNHCR has set up help lines in the refugees’ concentrated areas to provide them with legal assistance in case police or any other agency arrests them.
When Najibullah government was coaxing and urging its countrymen to return to their homes, Pakistan’s state-run media was running aggressive propaganda campaign discouraging refugees from going back to their country. The then government in Kabul was named in the popular Pashto parlance as “Goodagai Hakumat” (puppet government).
Back then, the Afghan refugees were treated as ‘endangered’ species. They were enjoying full liberty. They did not require registration. Frozen meat of sacrificial animals and dates were transported through chartered planes from the Holy Land to Peshawar, Quetta for onward distribution in the refugee camps scattered across Pakistan. At that time refugees were considered as strategic and economic assets of Islamabad.
When much water has flown under the bridge, Pakistan has realised that it is time to say goodbye to refugees. All of a sudden, Minister for SAFRON Abdul Qadir Baloch Refugees seem to be liability for both Pakistan, Afghanistan came up with statistics that Afghans have encroached upon one million jobs.
Sources in SAFRON say that hasty decision about the future of refugees can cause a lot of blowback for the Pak-Afghan ties that are already at low ebb. They say that disagreement over the modalities for repatriation existed between security establishment and civilian setup.
From the horse’s mouth, the army is not in favour of giving extension to registered refugees and wants to send them back to their country while civilian setup suggests to give them one time extension till December 2017.
“Stakeholders are not on the same page and unilateral action against refugees will have serious implications for the country,” said the source, who is dealing with the refugees for the last two decades.
The UN-funded voluntary repatriation process is going very slow. Less than 5,000 refugees have gone back to their homes since January this year, but UN and Afghan government are asking Pakistan to be more hospitable.
This discouraging situation forced the UN refugee agency to increase cash assistance from $200 to $400 per head to make the package more attractive. A proposal is under consideration to fix return package at $3,000 per family.
“Voluntary repatriation has proved to be a futile exercise and it will take decades to send all Afghans to their country under this programme,” said the official.
History shows that 100 per cent repatriation of refugees had never happened anywhere in the world. Some sections are reintegrated into the local population and the host countries grant them citizenship. Currently Pakistan hosts 1.5 registered refugees, who give birth to around 70,000 children every year. Roughly 87 per cent of the total refugees are Pakhtuns.
“Like other countries Pakistan can integrate Afghans too. Almost 70 per cent of the refugee population is between the age of 15 and 25. They are born and brought up in Pakistan and do businesses here so why not give them citizenship,” said one senior functionary.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268982/refugees-seem-to-be-liability-for-both-pakistan-and-afghanistan
Govt asked to set up processing units, cold storages
PESHAWAR: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has urged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to set up processing units and modern cold storages under public-private partnership to take advantage of the rich potential of horticulture and agriculture resources in the province.
FPCCI’s standing committee on horticulture and food exports chairman Ahmad Jawad in a statement here on Sunday said that horticulture sector had a significant export potential, particularly off-season fruits and vegetables that had a high demand in certain regional markets. “There is a need to adopt latest technology for enhancing export of these high value products,” he added.
Mr Jawad said that Pakistan had certain geographical advantages and it was considered a backyard farm of the Central Asian States and the Middle East with remarkable potential for export of agriculture products.
He said that he had written a letter to the provincial agriculture minister to pay proper attention to improvement of the agriculture infrastructure and allocate sufficient funds in budget for the purpose but he did not respond to the suggestions.
Mr Jawad said that provincial government allocated only Rs8.63 billion for the development of agriculture sector in the budget for 2016-17. “We have to understand that small landholdings have adversely impacted crop yields and productivity in the province. Small scale farmers do not have access to sufficient resources to participate in high value-added markets,” he said.
According to Jawad, the production process in the province is “supply-driven instead of demand-oriented”. “Farmers with small holdings are unable to gain direct access to markets,” he said, adding farmers had to travel at least 10 miles to reach the nearest market.
Mr Jawad said that only 1.8 million hectares out of 2.96 million hectares of cultivable land in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were being used to grow crops. He said that diversification into horticulture and rural-based agriculture processing units offered promising avenues for increasing the income of rural households.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268980/govt-asked-to-set-up-processing-units-cold-storages
Collection of timber from Panjkora River banned
TIMERGARA: The Lower Dir administration on Sunday imposed ban on collection of timber and tree branches from Panjkora River in the limits of the district for one month during the monsoon season.
Talking to mediapersons, deputy commissioner Irfanullah Wazir said that the step had been taken to save human lives. He said that people living near the river always collected firewood, branches of trees, herb and shrubs during flood in the river. He said that so far several human lives had been lost during that practice.
He said that ban had already been imposed on fishing and gathering near the river in Lower Dir. He said that the violators would be dealt with an iron hand.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268975/collection-of-timber-from-panjkora-river-banned
New fiscal begins but LGs yet to approve budgets
PESHAWAR: Though the new financial year has begun, all local bodies across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have failed to approve their respective budgets for 2016-17 in violation of the local government law.
Under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013, the nazims of district, tehsil/town, village and neighbourhood councils were bound to get budgets approved from their respective councils before the start of the fiscal 2016-17 on the pattern of the federal and provincial governments.
However, several district and tehsil nazims Dawn spoke to held the provincial government responsible for the ‘unlawful delay’ in the passage of their budgets insisting it has yet to inform local bodies about their share in the provincial budget.
Nazims point the finger at govt insisting it hasn’t informed them about share in provincial budget
Section 35 of the LG Act states, “Before the commencement of the next financial year, each nazim shall present the budget for consideration and approval of the respective local council.”
One of the district nazims asked how he could make the budget of his government when it was not clear how much funds the provincial government would offer in light of the Provincial Finance Commission Award.
Now as the nazims are unable to get budgets passed from their respective councils, the law empowers the provincial government to step in and make budgets for them, insisted officials in the local government department.
According to them, sub-section 4 of Section 35 states, “in case a budget is not approved by the local council before commencement of the financial year to which it relates, provincial government shall prepare, approve and authenticate budget for the local government.”
The new financial year has begun three days ago but the people at the helm of affairs have yet to distribute the due ADP share totaling Rs33.9 billion among district, tehsil/town, village and neighbourhood councils, officials said.
They said under the law, it was the responsibility of the provincial government to inform the administrations of all councils about their share in the provincial ADP so that they could make own development outlays.
Section 34 of the LG law says, “The provincial government shall, sufficiently before the beginning of each financial year, notify the provincial grants, which may be credited to the fund of a local government from the provincial consolidated fund.”
Shangla district nazim Niaz Ahmad told Dawn that the PTI government didn’t want to strengthen the local government system in the province.
“The provincial government has literally abandoned the local government system and considered it a burden on it,” he said.
Regarding the preparation and passage of the district budget, the nazim said under the LG law, 20 departments had been devolved to the districts, so he had to allocate funds for every devolved department but currently, he had no idea about his district’s share in the province’s funds.
He said he recently raised the issue during a high-level meeting, which was also attended by LG minister Inayatullah Khan and chief secretary Amjad Ali Khan, but both of them had no answer.
The nazim said some PTI ministers and a senior bureaucrat were opposed to the local government system ‘for no reason’ and even PTI chief Imran Khan knew it but he was silent about it.
When contacted, finance minister Muzafar Said denied the provincial government was making budgets for district, tehsils/town and village and neighbourhood councils in the wake of the nazims’ failure to approve 2016-17 budgets.
“We have allocated 30 per cent of the provincial ADP for all three tiers of the local government system to be distributed among districts soon,” he said.
Asked about the status of the Provincial Finance Commission Award under which funds are doled out to districts, the minister said the formula for distribution of funds had been made, while the process of the PFC award distribution was ‘under process’.
Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268787/new-fiscal-begins-but-lgs-yet-to-approve-budgets
No visible change in health delivery system
PESHAWAR: The public sector hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are yet to improve their performance despite the government’s announcement of unprecedented increase in salaries and allowances of the doctors, nurses and paramedics in past few months.
As opposed to workers of other departments who receive a traditional salary raise of 10 per cent in annual budget every year, the health department has been too generous to its employees. There have been lucrative benefits announced by the government during the last few months for the health staff.
The stipend of trainee medical officers (TMOs) was increased by Rs80,000 recently. The TMOs who would receive a stipend of Rs48,585 a month during their five-year training would now get up to Rs103,000 under a formula devised by the government. They will get enhanced stipend towards completion of their training period. In addition, they have also been given Rs15,000 a month in lieu of accommodation.
The province has about 2,200 TMOs in the public sector hospitals pursuing specialisation.
Health minister Shahram Tarakai told Dawn about the disciplinary actions the department had started against absent staff. “The government has raised the pays and now expects the health workers to ensure effective patient care in the hospitals,” he said, adding that the government had put in place a better monitoring system after which staff’s attendance had shown improvement.
The government has also given a cent per cent raise in stipend to the house officers to benefit 1,000 such officers in the province. These offices undergo one-year compulsory house job at the hospitals after passing the final year MBBS examinations. They have started receiving stipend of Rs52,000 a month, enhanced from earlier Rs27, 000.
To improve the patient care at the grassroots level, the government has awarded health professional allowance (HPA) as high as Rs140,000 a month to the medical officers in backward areas. For this purpose, the districts have been categorised and those who are willing to be posted in far-off areas would be entitled to more financial benefits.
The government has announced Rs10,000 HPA a month for nurses. It would benefit 12,000 paramedics and 5,000 nurses. Monthly stipend of student nurses has been increased to Rs20,000 a month from Rs5,000 under the present government.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan is advocating the policy of investment in human resources and in this case there has been almost 100 per cent increase in salaries, stipends and HPA of the employees, but the situation regarding the health delivery is yet to change for the good.
Mr Khan was right in saying that reforms agenda had been hampered by a “few people” through stay orders from courts whose interests were at stake under the new system. However, this is true for what is happening in a few hospitals where the government has implemented the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act 2015.
There is no legal obstacle to improve the patient care in about 2,000 health units in the province through effective administration at a time when record raise in salaries has been given to all the stakeholders running the health system. Associations of doctors, nurses and paramedics have held out assurances that they wouldn’t resort to strikes in future due to the tremendous benefits given by the government to all those involved in the health care provision, but the benefits are yet to trickle down to the people.
Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268784/no-visible-change-in-health-delivery-system
KP releases Rs7 billion for local bodies
PESHAWAR: The provincial finance department has released an amount of Rs7.204 billion to the three tiers of the local government, including district, tehsil/town and village/neighborhood councils, to carry out development schemes.
A statement issued here said the amount had been immediately transferred to the accounts of the concerned councils.
The finance department, through three separate notifications issued here on Friday, released a major chunk of Rs2.783 billion to the village and neighborhood councils, and Rs2.210 billion each to the district and tehsil/town administrations, respectively.
The statement said the finance department released the grants to the local government for the first quarter of the financial year, starting on July 1, under the Provincial Finance Commission without any discrimination.
It clarified that even political or administrative problems did not delay release of the funds to ensure that development process continued unhampered.
Meanwhile, Provincial Finance Minister Muzaffar Said praised his department for timely release of development funds to the district, tehsil and village/neighborhood councils.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268628/kp-releases-rs7-billion-for-local-bodies
PHC stays arrest of ex-VC in land corruption case
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday stopped the National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from arresting four former senior officials of the University of Peshawar, including vice-chancellor, in a case of alleged irregularities in the purchase of land for the university employees’ housing scheme.
A bench consisting of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Duad Khan suspended the NAB call-up notices issued to former VC Dr Azmat Hayat, former registrar Sheerinzada Khattak, former treasurer Sanaullah Khan and former chairperson of the Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Professor Farrukh Hussain – and issued a notice to the NAB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, asking it to explain position on the matter.
It issued the order on a petition of the former officials against the issuance of call-up notices to them by the NAB lately.
Court asks NAB to explain reason for issuing call-up notices to four suspects
The petitioner, Azmat Hayat, was the chairman of the board constituted university’s administration for the Peshawar University Employees Welfare Foundation, whereas the treasurer was its secretary and the other two petitioners were its members.
The board had decided to purchase a vast piece of land in 2010 to establish a campus and a housing scheme in Spin Kanre Kalan area of Nowshera.
The NAB suspected the said land was available at much cheaper rates and when the university decided to purchase the said land they allegedly included a middleman. It is suspected that the said middleman first purchased the land on cheaper rates and subsequently sold it out to the university at much higher price.
The provincial higher education department had also conducted an inquiry and recommended action against the culpable persons.
Barrister Yaseen Khan appeared for the petitioners and contended that his clients were issued call-up notices by the NAB in connection with the purchase of land for an employee’s housing scheme.
He said the NAB had started an inquiry in this regard on the basis of the false charge of the land’s purchase at exorbitant rates.
The lawyer said the owner of the said land was even now willing to re-purchase the land at the said land which showed that the land was purchased at much lower price.
He pointed out that earlier the KP Ehtesab Commission had launched an inquiry which was challenged before the high court.
The lawyer however said the NAB was also inquiring into the issue and therefore, the KPEC closed its inquiry.
BAIL GRANTED: The bench granted bail to an executive engineer of Pak-Public Works Department, Asif Khan, who was arrested by the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the charge of embezzling public funds during the construction of different development schemes in Batkhela and Swat.
Sardar Ali Raza, lawyer for the petitioner, said his client was earlier granted bail by the high court in two other identical cases.
He said the NAB instead of conducting different inquiries simultaneously against the petitioner had been coming up with new cases after completion of earlier inquiries.
The lawyer said the instant case a reference had already been filed by the NAB and he was no longer required to the bureau for the purpose of investigation.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268625/phc-stays-arrest-of-ex-vc-in-land-corruption-case
Afghans holding fake ID cards facing action
TIMERGARA: General Officer Commanding, Malakand division, Major-General Asif Ghafoor on Friday said action would be taken against Afghan refugees possessing fake Pakistani national identity card.
He was addressing a meeting of local government representatives, area elders, politicians, army officers and lawmakers at the Dir Scouts Fort here.
The GOC said the Pakistan Army would remain present in the region to maintain law and order and ensure security of western borders.
Commandant of Dir Task Force Colonel Khalid Mehmood Shafi, Lower Dir deputy commissioner Irfanullah Wazir, district nazim Rasool Khan, DPO Akbar Ali Shah, MPA Saeed Gul and tehsil nazim were also present on the occasion.
The GOC appreciated the people of Malakand for their sacrifices and full cooperation extended to security forces for eliminating militancy and said it was the public support that helped the Pakistan Army defeat terrorists.
“We know the people of Malakand fought side by side with the Pakistan army due to which the lasting peace prevails across Malakand today,” he said.
Major-General Asif Ghafoor said the fleeing terrorists were targeting soft targets in different areas of the country. “The next two or three months are very crucial for the country,” he said asking the people to immediately inform security forces if they spot suspicious activities in their respective areas.
The GOC said a temporary steel bridge was being installed at Khazana Bypass Road by the Pakistan Army.
He said the bridge would be opened to light traffic in few days. Major-General Asif Ghafoor said the establishment of cantonment in Swat would help establish the CMH Hospital, army public school and cadet college in the region.
He asked local residents to identify Afghan refugees involved in suspicious activities and inform security forces about them for action.
Meanwhile, opposition leader in the Lower Dir district council Malik Mohammad Zeb has demanded the inclusion of Khall tehsil in Lower Dir district before the next general elections.
He made the demand during a meeting with Lower Dir deputy commissioner Irfanullah Wazir at the latter’s office on Friday.
Also, the newly-appointed district health officer, Dr Shaukat Ali, on Thursday directed the administration of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Samar Bagh to make the emergency OPD and labour room functional without delay.
During a visit to the hospital, he also issued orders for the immediate utilisation of heavy machinery rusting away for years.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1268620/afghans-holding-fake-id-cards-facing-action
Last edited:
