PESHAWAR: Political parties’ leaders on Sunday blasted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for its alleged failure to curb the spread of dengue virus in the provincial capital.

In a statement issued here, Qaumi Watan Party provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao said the uncontrolled virus had exposed the health reforms the government was claiming to have enforced in the province.

He claimed that over 4,000 people were suffering from dengue fever in Peshawar, but the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government had yet to devise any effective strategy for controlling the disease.

The QWP leader said the health department did not take preemptive measures for protection of the people from the deadly virus, saying it was duty of the government to carry out spray to eliminate breeding places of the mosquito carrying dengue virus.

The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said Mr Sherpao, had voted the PTI to power on the slogan of its change mantra, but the party had backed out of its election manifesto.

Awami National Party leader Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, in a separate statement, said the KP government failed to take timely steps for control of dengue which had affected normal life, especially in suburbs of Peshawar.

He said the poor performance of the provincial government had forced the people to appeal to Punjab for extending medical facilities.

He claimed that dengue had become epidemic and the patients’ number was fast increasing with each passing day, but the provincial health department was least bothered to come into action.

Mr Bilour said Imran Khan always targeted the opposition parties’ leaders by describing them as corrupt but he himself had failed to materialise his commitments with the people.

He said the PTI had claimed to bring reforms in different sectors, particularly in health and education, but it even did not conduct anti-mosquito spray and ensure cleanliness in the capital city and its suroundings.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Haji Ghulam Ali also came down hard on the provincial government, saying it was unable to provide proper health facilities to the dengue patients. He said doctors from Punjab should be allowed to serve the patients in KP hospitals.

He said Imran Khan should admit his failure and quit politics. He said JUI-F had timely informed the government to carry out spray in Peshawar but it did not do so.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2017