KOHAT: MPA Ziaullah Bangash, the provincial government’s focal person on development, claims Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has notified the status of tehsil for Gumbat, which will be the third subdivision of Kohat.

He told Dawn on telephone on Wednesday that a notification had also been issued for establishing a women university in Kohat at a cost of Rs500 million. He said the makeshift classes of the varsity would soon be started in the campus of Kohat University of Science and Technology.

Mr Bangash said after becoming the tehsil, Gumbat would get its own tehsil municipal administration which would solve the decades-old problems of pavement of streets, cleanliness, water supply, besides creating hundreds of jobs for locals.

He said the new tehsil would be able to get the possession of plazas and shops previously owned by TMA Kohat on nominal rent.

Mr Bangash said the TMA Kohat could not pay attention to the Gumbat town which was situated at a distance of 30 kilometres from the city near the Indus River. He said talks were on with the Hungarian MOL company to fix quota for the jobless local people in its proposed plant to be set up in Gumbat.

Similarly, a sports complex and library would be constructed at a cost of Rs700 million, he said.

The lawmaker said these had been the long standing demands of the people and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had promised to meet them during his visit to Kohat in May 2016. He said the chief minister would visit Kohat again to announce the approval of projects at a public meeting after Muharram.

TRADERS FINED: Assistant Commissioner, Kohat, Ms Gul Bano on Wednesday conducted raids in KDA town and ordered arrest of 20 traders for keeping expired drinks and poor cleanliness.

She also imposed heavy penalties on petrol pump owners for tempering with their metres.

A statement issued here quoted Ms Bano as having warned the traders and petrol pump owners of arrest if they indulged in such practices in future.

Talking to journalists, the assistant commissioner said now the number of magistrates had been increased from one to three which would strengthen the enforcement of rates of district price review committee in Kohat markets.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2017