MANSEHRA: The residents of Gagool Guber Nullah village in Kohistan have approached the anti-corruption establishment to demand inquiry into the construction of a primary school in a dangerous mountainous area to what they called embezzle funds.

“We are thankful to the provincial government for sanctioning funds for the construction of our village on our demands but the contractor with the connivance of the education department officials changed the site of the school from a populated area to a dangerous mountainous area to embezzle funds,” Noor Wali told reporters here on Thursday.

Mr. Wali, who was accompanied by a group of his villagers, including Abdul Shakoor, Alamzeb, Momanul Haq, Abdul Hakeem and others, said the provincial government had sanctioned funds for construction of a primary school in their village situated in union council Goshalli in Tehsil Dasu but it was not being constructed at sanctioned place in their village.

“This school is being constructed in a dangerous mountains area where one cannot go in the broad daylight due to the presence of dangerous beasts. The accessibility of children is almost impossible there,” he said.

Mr. Wali said contractor Mohammad Yaqoob was approached by the local people to construct that school in their village for which it was sanctioned but he instead threatened them with dire consequence.

“We have moved an application to the anti-corruption establishment of Kohistan seeking inquiry into the ‘fraud’ but no development has taken place yet,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Almzeb said if the construction of that school was not immediately stopped, the children of many villages would remain educated.

“The contractor is going to construct another ghost school in Kohistan to embezzle funds but nobody is there to stop him from doing so,” he said.

Mr. Almzeb also demanded that the CM order inquiry into the construction of primary school in dangerous mountainous area.

FOUNDATION STONE: Assistant commissioner Altaf Hussain on Thursday laid the foundation stone of the computerised delivery centre of the revenue department in Oghi.

The AC told reporters here that the building would be completed in 18 months at an estimated cost of Rs30.7 million.

“I think this is a revolutionary project, which will help the people of Oghi tehsil get records of their land in five minutes under one roof,” he said.

Mr. Hussain said getting records of revenue department was an uphill task but the establishment of that centre would address many problems of landowners and land buyers.

MAN KILLED: A village council secretary on Thursday killed a colleague in Balakot on Thursday.

Barakot village council secretary Mohammad Nisar and Balakot neighbourhood council Banaris Khan had heated exchanges over a pity issue before the former fired gunshots at the latter leaving him dead instantly.

The police shifted the body to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital and handed it over to the family after postmortem.

They later registered an FIR and began bids to arrest suspected killers.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2016