LAKKI MARWAT: On the call of local ulema, a large number of people, mostly clerics and seminary students, held a demonstration in Bannu city on Sunday to press the local administration to close down the city’s family park.

Before the protest, a meeting was held at a local mosque chaired by head of ulema committee Maulana Abdul Ghaffar.

Later, the participants took out a procession, which passed through different bazaars and converged near the press club building.

Bannu tehsil council chairman Irfan Khan Durrani, Maulana Ezazullah Haqqani, Maulana Ahmadullah Haqqani, Maulana Azmatullah and Malik Rahat Ali Khan also turned up at the protest.

The administration had deployed a large contingent of police at the park and along the procession route to avert any untoward incident.

The protest leaders alleged that the establishment of the family park had promoted obscenity in the area. They said women visiting recreational places was not acceptable to them, and asked the local administration to close down the park.

GAS SUPPLY: Bannu division commissioner Matiullah Khan has said the issue of gas supply from Waziristan to Bannu will be resolved soon.

Chairing a meeting on Sunday, he said gas reserves discovered in North Waziristan district should be used in a way that all people, especially the locals, got the maximum benefit.

Bannu deputy commissioner Aun Haider Gondal, North Waziristan DC Shahid Ali Khan, Lakki Marwat DC Fazal Akbar, and officials of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited were also in attendance.

On the occasion, SNGPL general manager Taj Ali Khan said the national resources would be used in the public interest as per the instructions of the government. “It will help people benefit equally from natural resources besides putting the country on track to development,” he maintained.

The divisional commissioner urged the authorities to complete the project so local residents could get the facility at their doorsteps.

He said the completion of gas project would usher a new era of development in the region.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2022