November 18, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 22, 1424

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HARIPUR, Nov 17: District Nazim Dr Raja Amer Zaman has criticized the NWFP government for infringing upon the powers of district government by executing development projects through MPAs, and meddling in transfers and postings of the government servants without consulting them.

He was speaking on a point of order in the district council session chaired by convener Riaz Khan Jadoon here on Monday.

Dr Zaman said on the one hand, the provincial government barred the districts from executing major development schemes and, on the other, it was directly releasing funds worth hundreds of thousands of rupees to its MPAs.

As a result, he added, a number of water supply schemes in Haripur were not being implemented as the district government lacked funds for laying supply lines to the consumers end.

“If Gen Musharraf wanted to save this near collapsing system he must intervene and ensure enough funding and sovereignty to the district government system,” maintained the Nazim, adding that the system which provided relief to marginalized communities could only be strengthened and made effective when the local government representatives were allowed to perform their duties without pressure.

Complaining about the scarce resources of the district, Dr Zaman called upon the donor agencies to advance funds for the development projects only through district governments rather than directly to the provincial government.

He accused the Frontier government for politicizing the institutions by getting involved in undue transfers and postings on massive scale. “The Frontier government must stop meddling in the district affairs and focus its attention on their constitutional duties by putting an end to such practices of transfers and postings and pavement of streets,” he added.

The Nazim demanded disciplinary action against Xen and SDO Irrigation, Haripur, who executed schemes without the prior approval of the district council.

Earlier, Salim Khan, Kholian union council Nazim, raised objection to the procedure of adopting resolutions in the house and asked the convener to loudly read out all the resolutions as required under section 16(6) of the Local Government Ordinance 2001.

He also criticized the performance of house committees and demanded publicizing of district government performance for maintaining transparency.

Mr Saeed Abbasi pointed out that the wheat flour, which was being sold under Ramazan package at different sale points on every Sunday was of poor quality and underweight.

He also demanded action against an assistant food controller who used insulting language against the district government system and General Pervez Musharraf.