News
Saturday, September 04, 2010
KP Assembly strongly protests massive load shedding
* Outraged members demand removal of federal minister for water and power for failure to handle WAPDA affairs
By Zakir Hassnain
PESHAWAR: The treasury and opposition benches in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly strongly protested massive and unannounced load shedding across the province, making citizens’ life miserable.
Outraged members demanded removal of the federal minister for water and power for his failure to handle the WAPDA affairs. The House condemned an attack by a rowdy mob on the hujra of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Karamatullah Chagharmati to protest load shedding. The members termed the attack deplorable as they said it was the WAPDA that was responsible for load shedding and not the assembly members.
Abdul Akbar Khan, Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) parliamentary leader, condemned the attack on Chagharmati’s hujra saying the attack on the speaker’s house was an attack on 124 MPAs. The PPPP leader proposed a meeting in Peshawar between MPAs and the federal minister for water and power, the WAPDA chairman and other officials on the load shedding issue.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Javed Abbasi demanded removal of the federal minister for water and power for his poor performance. Deputy Speaker Khushdil Khan said PESCO had increased load shedding hours to 18 in some areas. He said WAPDA staff was corrupt. He suggested a meeting between MPAs and the water and power minister and the WAPDA chairman on the load shedding issue.
Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour said WAPDA was defying even the prime minister’s directives that there should be no load shedding during sehr and iftar hours. Bilour said inquiry would be made on the attack on the speaker’s hujra and action taken against the miscreants involved in the attack.
Bilour said the cost of power generation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was Re 1 and 30 paisas per unit while the WAPDA was charging consumers Rs 10 per unit from this province which was a great injustice.
In their joint call attention notice, MPAs Syed Qalb-e-Hasan and Musarat Shafi said Frontier Education Foundation (FEF) staff was shifted from Kohat to Peshawar due to law and order problem which was unfair as other institutions were also working in Kohat despite poor law and order. Hasan said the government had spent Rs 60 million on the Foundation which trained teachers and lecturers. He asked the government to make an inquiry.
Minister for Higher Education Qazi Muhammad Asad said the Foundation staff was temporarily shifted to Peshawar due to law and order problem. However, the case was referred to the House committee concerned.
The House referred the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Salaries and Allowances of Members (Amendment) Bill 2010 to the House committee. MPA Shagufta Malik presented the Bill for immediate consideration.
The House also passed the NWFP Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2010. The (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Establishment of District Development Advisory Committees (Amendment) Bill 2010 and Frontier Women University (Amendment) Bill 2010 were also introduced in the House.
The House unanimously passed a resolution, demanding the provincial government impose a ban on advertisements of unqualified hakims, fortunetellers, bogus peers and people involved in amulets’ business which was fast growing and having a negative impact on the society and misguiding innocent people.
The House also passed a resolution jointly tabled by Munawwar Sultana and Tabassum Shams Katozai demanding only women doctors and technicians conduct ECG and ultrasound tests of women patients in government hospitals and laboratories to maintain teachings of Islam and regional traditions. The speaker adjourned the House till Monday, September 6.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk