QUETTA: Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti has said that despite the passage of the 18th Amendment, the federal government has not yet transferred powers of issuing licences for prohibited bore weapons to the provincial government.

Responding to points of order raised by some members in the Balochistan Assembly on Saturday, he said the federal government would be approached in this regard soon.

“The 18th Amendment has empowered provinces to issue the licences but it has not been implemented so far and, therefore, the provincial home ministry does not have the authority to issue the licences,” Mr Bugti said.

Earlier, some treasury and opposition members said on points of order that people in the province applying for the licences were disappointed to know that they could not obtain them in the province.

Abdul Majeed Achakzai of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said the members of the assembly were compelled to approach the federal interior ministry to obtain the licences and blue passports.

Asked about the out-of-the-way transfer of a police official, the home minister said he was not aware of the transfer and claimed that Balochistan police had been depoliticised and the government was not making any posting and transfer on a political basis.

He also denied the allegations that ministers were receiving bribes for appointment in their departments but conceded that government officials might be involved in the practice.

Mr Bugti also dispelled the impression that police and traffic police did not conduct checking in Quetta during night and said that he had proof of night checking in and around the city.

Shahida Rauf of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) said on a point of order that a committee, which had been constituted during the last assembly session on problems faced by residents of Quetta, had not held a single meeting so far.

She urged the government to pay attention to the problems of the city and take steps to give relief to the people, who were suffering due to the negligence of civic authorities.

Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran of the JUI-F said “shoulder promotion” had been withdrawn in the provincial police department and called for its restoration.

He said 50 vacancies created in the office of the provincial ombudsman should be filled on the basis of merit instead of distributing the jobs on divisional and regional quota.

The house disposed of a resolution with the consent of its mover Syed Muhammad Raza. The resolution had called for installation of modern security equipment at Quetta airport as existing equipment was not able to detect weapons during checking of vehicles.

The home minister said the equipment being used at the airport was meant to detect explosive material, not weapons.

He said strict measures had been taken for the safety of national installations and security of the airport was satisfactory. The government had even conducted a survey of people living in the surrounding area of the airport, Mr Bugti said.

The house expressed concern over rising number of accidents on the Quetta-Karachi highway and urged the authorities concerned to take steps to prevent them.

Yasmeen Lehri said that bus owners were making drivers work for 24 hours without a break, which was one of the main reasons for accidents on the highway.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2017