KOHAT: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will stage a protest in front of parliament in Islamabad against scrapping of already approved development projects for the province by federal government.

During his daylong visit to Kohat and Hangu districts on Wednesday, he said that federal government was not providing due share to KP in the National Finance Commission award to create financial instability in the province.

He alleged that the federal cabinet even suspended development projects reflected in Public Sector Development Programme for the province by the previous federal government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

During his visit, the chief minister performed ground breaking of various development projects worth Rs13 billion along with inaugurating the newly-completed schemes in both the districts.

Mahmood opens work on Rs13bn projects in Kohat and Hangu

The chief minister laid foundation stone of a project to improve sewerage system and establish a new sewage treatment plant at Kotal Township (KDA). The scheme will be executed under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project (KPCIP) at an estimated cost of Rs6.73 billion.

The project, on completion, will have water treatment capacity of million gallons per day while a 75 kilometres-long new sewerage network will also be established under it.

Mahmood Khan also laid the foundation stone for improvement and rehabilitation of water supply system in Kohat. The project will cost Rs4.65 billion. The scheme includes renovation and rehabilitation of existing water reservoirs and tubewells, establishment of eight new water reservoirs, sinking 10 new tubewells and setting up a new water distribution network.

The chief minister also performed groundbreaking of Business Development and Community Centre for Women in Kohat along with establishment of a recreational park and other facilities in the sports complex. Both the projects will be completed under KPCIP and will cost Rs560 million.

He also inaugurated upgradation of comprehensive high schools for girls and boys to higher secondary level, which had been completed at a cost of Rs70 million.

In district Hangu, the chief minister inaugurated a civil hospital in Duaba. The hospital has been completed at a cost of Rs154.4 million. He also inaugurated the newly established district jail in Hangu and two Rescue 1122 stations.

Addressing the inaugural ceremonies in Kohat and Hangu, he said that MPAs would stage a protest in front of National Assembly against scrapping development projects approved for the province by PTI chairman Imran Khan when he was prime minister.

The chief minister said that provincial government devised a comprehensive strategy for the development of divisional headquarters under KPCIP, a project worth over Rs100 billion. He said an area development plan was initiated for the districts having natural gas reserves.

He said that federal cabinet was using every tactic to sabotage the development process in KP. He said that it withheld the budgetary share of the province in addition to cutting the developmental budget of tribal districts.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2022