LAKKI MARWAT: Residents of remote Sherikhel village here have expressed concern over poor condition of roads in rural localities and asked the provincial government to provide sufficient funds for building new roads and repairing the existing ones.

They voiced the concern during an open kutchery convened by Lakki Marwat deputy commissioner Abdul Haseeb on Friday. The villagers said construction of roads brought prosperity to an area but broken and potholed rural roads had kept them from development, asking the government to provide funds for repair and rehabilitation of roads in Sherikhel, Wanda Faqeeran and Umer Adda localities.

An elder said local students had to travel to the other areas to get secondary education as Sherikhel village lacked a high school.

“The upgradation of government middle school to high level will enable local students to get secondary education near their homes,” he added.

The villagers also demanded pavement of streets in Sherikhel and other rural areas. The deputy commissioner directed the heads of departments to resolve people’s problems and ensure provision of quick relief to them. He made clear that any delay on part of officials in provision of services to citizens won’t be tolerated.

Also on Friday, deputy commissioner Abdul Haseeb distributed cheques worth Rs500,000 each to the heirs of Mohammad Gul, Abdul Hameed and Jahangir Khan, who were killed by attackers near the district jail in Lakki city on January 20.

The financial assistance has been provided from the civilian victim support fund of the provincial government, he added.

PROTEST: Residents of different localities on Friday organised a protest camp outside the office of Pesco Bannu circle superintending engineer against excessive electricity loadshedding.

Local elders, journalists and people from different segments of society visited the camp to express solidarity with the protesters.

They said low voltage and power fluctuation had also added to their troubles. They asked the Pesco to reduce loadshedding and resolve low voltage issue.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2021