TIMERGARA: The food department has launched a crackdown on profiteers, violators of official price list and sellers of substandard and expired food items in Lower Dir.

District food controller Shahabuddin and assistant food controller Said Nawaz along with police and Dir Levies personnel raided markets in Lal Qila Maidan and Ouch Adenzai areas the other day and fined 11 shopkeepers for selling substandard food.

They sent samples of 15 food items to laboratory for examination.

The officials also checked hygienic conditions in hotels.

Also in the day, Timergara assistant commissioner Ashfaq Ahmad along with officials of the food department raided markets in Timergara city and fined 11 shopkeepers for lack of cleanliness.

They collected samples of 14 food items before sending them to laboratory for investigation, and sealed three bakeries and a milk shop for selling substandard goods.

VOTERS DAY: The Lower Dir administration and Election Commission of Pakistan jointly marked the National Voters Day here the other day.

In this respect, a function was held at the District Council Hall with Lower Dir deputy commissioner Sarmad Saleem in the chair.

District heads of political parties, local government representatives and officers of government departments attended the function.

The DC said every citizen had the right to vote.

District election commissioner Anwar Saeed Khattak said the ECP had planned to increase public awareness of the right to vote.

He said the ECP was committed to ensuring 75 percent turnout in the 2018 elections through several initiatives. He asked political parties to play due role in that respect.

ANTI-CORRUPTION PLEDGE: Newly-appointed deputy commissioner of Lower Dir Sarmad Saleem Akram has said that the government was committed to eliminating corruption from own departments.

He was addressing participants of an awareness walk in Balambat here the other day. Representatives of the government departments, local government and civil society participated in the walk.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2017