MMA accused of toeing WB line: Property tax exemption
By Mohammed Riaz
PESHAWAR, June 22: Opposition lawmakers in the NWFP Assembly on Tuesday criticized the MMA government for suspending its decision on exempting five-marla houses of property tax and accused the provincial government of toeing the World Bank guidelines on the issue.
Speaking during the budget debate which entered its second day on Tuesday, Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao of the PPP-S said the NWFP cabinet had approved exemption of the houses up to five-marla from the property tax, but the finance minister did not mention it in his budget speech for some unknown reasons.
He said some time back the assembly through a unanimously adopted resolution had demanded that the government should exempt the houses up to five marla from payment of property tax as it would give a relief to the poor people.
But the government had tried to hoodwink the World Bank team, which would meet the NWFP officials today (Tuesday) in Islamabad, he added. The World Bank mission, Mr Sherpao said, had advised the NWFP government to improve its tax base and utilize funds provided by the donors.
The government had, for the time being, suspended its decision on the tax exemption to ward off indignation of the World Bank, he added. Criticizing the government policies, he said the government had prepared a summary in March 2004 for the purchase of a new aeroplane.
He said the so-called simple and pious members of religious parties had developed a liking for the glitters of the material world. He feared that umbrella schemes might be used for horse-trading in the future.
Mr Sherpao said the present budget document was full of contradictions as at one place the total outlay figure had been fixed at Rs46 billion, while in the white paper the finance minister put it at Rs60 billion and in the same document he repeated the figure as Rs58 billion. Which one was correct, he asked.
Parliamentary leader of the PPP Abdul Akbar Khan said the budget showed the government was rich but its subjects were poor. "While foreign reserves go up, more and more people join those living below the poverty line," he observed.
He alleged that the federal government in connivance with the Sindh government had sabotaged the NFC award. On the basis of its population, the NWFP had a share of Rs33 billion in the previous NFC award, but the federal government had passed on only Rs27 billion to the NWFP, Rs6 billion less than its share in the divisible pool, he added.
Mr Khan said Sindh, which had a share of Rs57 billion on the basis of its population, received Rs72 billion, an additional amount of Rs17 billion. He said the federation and its units had yet not arrived at a consensus over the funds distribution formula, but the federal finance ministry had on its own fixed a share for the NWFP.
He criticized allocation of funds for the umbrella schemes and termed them a politically-motivated move which could spoil the political situation in future. He asked the government to give a break-up of all these schemes.
Mr Khan said the Rs30 billion subsidy offered by Wapda to its domestic consumers might affect the quantum of the net hydel profit of the NWFP. Wajihuzzaman Khan of the PML-Q rejected the claims made by the MMA in the budget. He said the government was promoting nepotism and parochialism in the name of party policy.
Remarks by Ghazal Habib of the PPP-S on religious scholars provoked a sharp response from some members. However, Speaker Bakht Jahan Khan expunged the remarks. Muzaffar Said, Naeema Akhtar, Imtiaz Sultan Bokhari, Zar Gul, Salma Babar and Saeed Khan also spoke on the budget. Later, the speaker adjourned the session till 9.30am on Wednesday.
