TIMERGARA: Lower Dir district nazim Mohammad Rasool Khan said on Thursday that the district government had allocated sufficient funds for improvement of education and provision of basic facilities to educational institutions in the district.

He was speaking at a conference arranged by Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) under its Pakistan Poverty Reduction (PPR) project at Balambat. SRSP’s regional programme manager Noor Ajab and other educationists also spoke on the occasion.

The event was attended by councillors, members of parent-teacher councils and community resource persons. The participants gave suggestions for addressing the problems in education sector.

The nazim said that the Lower Dir district government had prioritised the education sector and a big amount had been set aside for provision of missing facilities in schools in the district.

He said that they wanted to improve quality of education at the government schools and colleges so that poor parents could send their children to these institutions. He said that the district government would resolve the problems identified by the participants.

BRIDGE REOPENED: The Khazana bypass bridge connecting Bajaur Agency and Jandol areas of Lower Dir was reopened to light traffic on Thursday after Commandant Dir Task Force Colonel Khalid Mehmood formally inaugurated the bridge during a function held on the site.

Deputy commissioner Irfanullah Wazir, district nazim, MPAs Saeed Gul and Izazul Mulk and councillors attended the function.

Talking to mediapersons, the nazim and Mr Mulk thanked the Pakistan Army for installing the temporary steel bridge. The closure of the bridge had multiplied miseries of the people of Jandol and Bajaur Agency as they had to travel a long distance to reach their destination. The bridge was closed to traffic in March this year after it developed cracks.

Mr Mulk told mediapersons that the provincial government had approved Rs370 million for reconstruction of the bridge.

HEALTH ALLOWANCE: The pharmacists have demanded of the government to approve Health Professional Allowance (HPA) for them like that of doctors, paramedics and nurses.

Speaking at a press conference at Timergara press club the other day, general secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pharmacists Association Ihsanullah said that the government had ignored pharmacists while approving the HPA for health department employees. He also demanded of the government to fill all vacant posts of pharmacists at the district headquarters hospitals in the province.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2016