PESHAWAR, Sept 14: The Awami National Party has demanded of the federal government to ensure payment of net hydel profit to the Frontier province in line with its constitutional right and Council of Common Interest (CCI) decision in 1991.

Addressing the party workers at Wali Bagh — the residence of Pakhtoon nationalist leader Wali Khan — the party’s provincial president Begum Nasim Wali criticized the federal government for keeping silence on the net hydel profit issue for the benefit of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).

She said that in line with the CCI’s 1991 decision and article 161 of the Constitution Wapda was bound to pay net hydel profit to the NWFP in accordance with the AGN Kazi formula.

She claimed that it was because of the ANP’s efforts that the Nawaz Sharif government in 1991 had agreed to start net hydel profit payment to NWFP honouring the long standing demand of the province and in keeping with the constitutional provisions.

The 1991 CCI, she added, had clearly made it binding on Wapda to pay net hydel profit share to the province since the adoption of the constitution.

However, the successive federal governments kept on ignoring the NWFP’s legal and constitutional right. It was the responsibility of the federal government, said Nasim Wali, that apart from Punjab the rights of other provinces should also be protected and honoured to ensure harmony and unity among the federating units.

Hence, the NWFP government’s recently made claim of around Rs300bn against Wapda on account of net hydel profit’s arrears should be seriously looked into and a serious effort should be made to allay the provincial government’s grievances.

She said that only if the province was paid its due share and long pending arrears it would not need to look towards others to meet its fiscal obligations and help end the financial problems successive governments of the province had been going through.

On this occasion, she said that her party would keep struggling to protect rights of the province and the Pakhtoon nation. “ It is must for the province that it should be released net hydel profit,” said the ANP leader.

Advising the ANP leaders to extend all possible help to the ANP to get it through the up coming elections, Begum Wali said the party would root out the elements who have been bargaining the Pakhtoon nation’s rights. “ It is the right time to take revenge from them through the power of ballot,” said Mrs Wali.