KOHAT: Traders here on Tuesday alleged that the tehsil municipal administration had adopted new tactics to mint money by asking them to deposit Rs3 million otherwise their shops would be demolished.

They were speaking during an open kutcheri which was presided over by deputy commissioner Ilyas Khalid. They said that the shopkeepers were paying Rs4,000 each per month with annual increase of 10 per cent to the TMA, Kohat, and the new rule would turn them jobless.

They said that the shops at new Tehsil Plaza had been auctioned for Rs3.5 million each whose price was not more than one million rupees. They claimed that plaza had failed business wise.

Secretary general of bazaar action committee Haji Abid and president of bazaar union Sher Khan spoke on the occasion, as the event was also attended by district nazim Naseem Afridi and tehsil nazim Malik Taimoor.

Show concern over absence of facilities in bazaars

The speakers demanded ban on letting out shops in auction to the aliens. They expressed concern over contaminated drinking water and absence of latrines and cleanliness in the bazaars.

Answering a question, the deputy commissioner said that the provincial government had ordered raids and sealing of the unhygienic dental clinics after reports of hepatitis ‘C’ in Kohat. He said that all problems of the businessmen would be resolved.

RAISE IN FUNDS SOUGHT: Village nazims here in the district have threatened to resign if their longstanding demand of increasing contingency fund is not accepted immediately.

The nazims had been receiving Rs23,462 a month, including honorarium, office rent, utility bills and stationary, which they said did not match the actual expenditure of non-development fund. Last year, they had asked for minimum Rs40,000 for a village office each, but the local government was yet to accept their demand.

When contacted, assistant director local government Kashif Rehman said that after discussions with the director local government a summary had been moved for sanction of revision of the honorarium, etc.

About 17 village nazims were threatening to resign if the fund was not revised according to the expenditure. “They have postponed their decision for the time being,” the LG official claimed. Arshad Gul and Ehsanullah, village nazims from Gumbat, told this scribe that their

colleagues attended the last meeting with the assistant director, but they would take a decision at appropriate time if their perks were not increased.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2018