PESHAWAR, March 16: The MMA lawmakers have demanded of the provincial government to execute the development schemes identified by them a year ago under the Tamir-i-Sarhad Programme and honour its commitment on the issue.
Speaking about non-execution of schemes under the said programme in the house on Tuesday, MMA's Mufti Mohammad Hussain said: "Our religion emphasize us to fulfil promises made even with non-Muslim.
The chief minister had assured the House that all the schemes identified under the programme would be executed, but nothing has been done so for." The government had adopted a complicated procedure for the execution of development schemes which was unfair, he added.
Shahraz Khan of the MMA also urged the government to allocate funds for the execution of development schemes and make the procedure transparent and workable. "We were told that the amount allocated for the TSP would be utilized at all costs, but the government has executed no scheme under this programme," he added.
Pir Mohammad Khan, also of the MMA, said the government had not yet released any amount for the execution of schemes identified by the MPAs under the TSP. The government had announced that it would allocate five million rupees to every MPA to get his schemes executed in the shortest possible time but it had not yet released any funds for the purpose, he added.
Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani of the PML-Q said the government had pushed them into an embarrassing situation when it announced that every MPA would be given five million rupees for his schemes under the TSP. "People think we have pocketed the funds, which is a wrong impression. The government should execute the programme and correct this impression," he added.
Jamshed Khan, Rifat Akbar Swati and Ghazala Habib of the PPP-S, Salma Babar and Muniba Waqarul Mulk of the PPP, Sabira Shakir and Qari Abdullah of the MMA and Qalandar Lodhi of the PML-Q also participated in the debate on the non-execution of the Tamir-i-Sarhad programme and urged its early execution.
Responding to the points raised by lawmakers, Minister for Local Government Sardar Mohammad Idrees said the government was very making all-out efforts to execute the programme, however, it was faced with certain difficulties owing to the non-existence of district development committees.
He said the government had decided to form a four-member project committee on each MPA's recommendations in every district to get all the identified schemes executed. He told the house that the MPAs might themselves preside over the meetings of the project committees. The government would release 25 per cent of total funds for the spadework, he added.
The project committees could initiate schemes including construction of water supply schemes and libraries under the TSP, but they would be not allowed to construct community centres or hujras from this money, the minister added.
Abdul Rehman from Chitral drew the attention of the house towards shortage of vegetable ghee in the district. The Chitral Scouts, who were not on good terms with the district Nazim, stopped the convoy of 18 trucks loaded with ghee, he claimed.
Finance Minister Sirajul Haq assured Abdur Rehman that the government would resolve the issue on a priority basis. Earlier, opposition members staged a token walkout against the non-representation of NWFP women on the National Commission on the Status of Women. After raising the issue, Mrs Rifat Akbar Swati along with other opposition lawmakers went out of the house.
Later, the finance minister laid before the house a report by the auditor-general on the performance of different departments for 2000-2001. Through a motion, he sought the reference of the report to the Public Finance Committee.
