KARAK: The residents of Sarki Lawagher have demanded expulsion of the non-local Class-IV employees from the Lawagher Dam project. They made the demand at a meeting here on Sunday chaired by village nazim Roshan Khan Khattak.

The participants alleged that the former adviser to chief minister on prisons, Malik Qasim Khan Khattak had recruited his supporters from other areas on Class-IV posts in the dam, thus ignoring the locals, particularly the landowners.

They warned to stop water supply from the dam to different areas of Takht-i-Nusrati if their demand was not met. They also demanded water supply from the dam to the local people. The elders accused the previous Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government of violating merit in recruitments.

PROTEST ENDS: On the call of Loya Jirga, an alliance of lawmakers from Karak and Kohat districts, the residents of Nashpa area ended their protest on Sunday. The MPs told the protesters that they were going to hold a meeting with the Kohat division commissioner and officials of the oil and gas exploration companies to help resolve the issue of low gas pressure.

The lawmakers, including Malik Zafar Azam, Mian Nisar Gul, Shah Dad Khan and Amjad Afridi, visited the protesters on Sunday and asked them to end the agitation. On the occasion, the protesters’ leader Maulana Abdur Rehman said the locals had decided to postpone their protest till the proposed meeting.

Later, the protesters dispersed peacefully.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2019