MANSEHRA: Religious affairs minister Sardar Mohammad Yousaf on Monday said the federal government had planned to form a commission for the establishment of new provinces in the country and that if new federating units were established, then Hazara would be the first among them.

“Federal governments is going to set-up a commission soon to review establishment of more federating units in the country and if more provinces are created, Hazara would be on top of the list,” Yousaf told reporters here after inaugurating an academy.

The minister said though he won’t say anything about the party’s policy on creation of more provinces, he personally felt more administrative units should be created in the country to address the people’s major issues.

He said it was time that all political parties unite to make the country strong from the socioeconomic and security point of view to foil the enemies’ designs.

Minister says Hazara to be the first among new federating units

Yousaf said those staging sit-ins wanted to destabilise the country and therefore, they were rejected by the people.

“The people first rejected PTI and PAT sit-ins in Islamabad and now reject public meetings of the two parties,” he said.

The minister said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would visit Havalian on November 2 to inaugurate the Hazara motorway project, whose completion would usher in an era of development in the region in particular and in other parts of the country in general.

He said the motorway would be built from Burhan to Havalian in the first phase, from Havalian to Mansehra in the second and fro m Mansehra to Gilgit in the third.

Yousaf said the federal government was soon begin work on a Rs4 billion drinking water project for Mansehra.

POLICE WARNED: Senior superintendent of police, Mansehra Shah Nazir Khan on Monday warned the police of Oghi tehsil of strict action over failure to arrest looters of 13 Dilbori shops.

“I want all looters behind bars in a week. It’s unfortunate that none of those involved in the last week’s robbery of 13 shops has been arrested,” he told a meeting of the police’s investigation staff in Oghi.

The SSP said it was the prime responsibility of the police to provide a sense of security to the people and that when robberies took place, the people won’t trust the police. He directed police investigators to do duty honestly and diligently saying it will help ensure speedy disposal of cases.

The SSP later met traders, whose shops were looted.

The traders complained about the police’s inefficiency and demanded early arrest of looters.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014