BAJAUR: Business community of Inayat Kallay Bazaar, the second largest commercial hub of business in Bajaur, has expressed deep concern over the alleged corruption and irregularities in the recently completed government-sponsored beautification project of the area and called for a transparent investigation into the matter.

The call was given during a meeting of the bazar traders’ association, which was presided over by its president, Imran Mahir, said a statement on Friday.

According to the statement issued by Imran Mahir, besides the association office-bearers, senior trade leaders also attended the meeting aimed at discussing the core issues of the bazar and their redressal by the relevant authorities.

The statement said that it was noted in the meeting that corruption and irregularities were reported in the recently completed provincial government-sponsored beautification project of the bazar, implemented by local government and rural development department (LG&RD).

LG dept rejects businessmen’s charges

The participants of the meeting, it said, alleged that that the standard and quality of the entire project, which comprised multiple civic facilities, were compromised as the contractors used substandard material.

“We had high expectations from this first-ever beautification project, meant to ensure long-lasting civic facilities in our bazar, such as street pavement, drainage, sanitation and drinking water, but the poor quality of work marred by corruption and irregularities has turned this costly scheme into a failed project,” the statement quoted the participants as saying.

The statement added that participants of the meeting unanimously expressed their dissatisfaction with the project and demanded a transparent inquiry into the alleged corruption and irregularities in the beautification scheme.

Moreover, it said the traders’ leaders also expressed concern over the performance of police personnel deployed in the bazar, alleging that their performance in ensuring the safety and security of traders and visitors was unsatisfactory.

“Inayat Kallay Bazar, the district’s second-largest commercial hub after Khar, with over 4,000 business outlets has been experiencing poor law and order situation in general and particularly the growing incidents of target killings,” the statement added.

When contacted, an official of local government and rural development department (LG& RD), the executing agency of the project, rejected the allegations as totally false and baseless.

The project was implemented as per the department’s standards and quality with proper checks and balances and the allegations of corruption and irregularities are entirely unfounded,” the official told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2025