MANSEHRA: Director general (excise and taxation) Sardar Saqib Nisar has suspended five officials of the department in Kaghan valley on bribe allegation and ordered an inquiry against them.

The action came after tourists complained to the director general that assistant sub-inspector Sardar Abdul Majeed, constables Mohammad Fayyaz, Naveed Ashraf and Mehmood Khan and driver Shah Imtiaz illegally checked their vehicles and forcibly took bribe from them by threatening to declare their vehicles non-customs paid or with tempered engines.

An official of the department told Dawn that the complainants also produced bribe evidence against officials.

He said the DG (excise and taxation) had appointed the department’s counter-narcotics operations officer Masud Haq the inquiry officer and directed him to produce the reportin seven days.

Dept DG orders inquiry, seeks report in seven days

HOTELIERS ASSOCIATION: The Kaghan Hoteliers Association has warned that its members will stage street protests if the Kaghan Development Authority doesn’t stop raiding and fining hotels in Naran.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan recently praised hoteliers for providing good services to tourists and following anti-coronavirus standard operating procedures but the KDA had begun raiding hotels and heavily fining them unjustly,” association president Saith Matiullah told reporters.

He also accused the KDA officials of fleecing owners of hotels and eateries.

Mr Matiullah said deputy director Mohammad Owais fined a local restaurant Rs8,000 just on wall chalking.

He said the hospitality industry was reeling from the pandemic impact, so the KDA’s crackdown would shatter it.

The association president demanded of the chief minister to order an inquiry into the KDA’s ‘excesses’ and warned if the demand wasn’t met, its members would agitate.

AWARENESS: The Unicef has planned to educate mothers to feed newborns to prevent breast cancer and other diseases, health department’s manager (nutrition) Sohail Ahmad on Saturday.

He told an awareness session here on Saturday that the mother’s milk was the first natural vaccine for a newborn against diarrhea, phenomena and respiratory tract infections.

Mr Ahmad said the women, who fed children, developed immunity against heart diseases, diabetes, and breast cancer.

He asked lady health workers and lady health supervisors to educate women about breastfeeding for own and infants’ health.

DHO Dr Mushtaq and head of the Lady Health Workers’ programme Dr Nasiralso addressed the session, which was attended by LHWs and LHSs.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2021