KOHAT, July 27: The government will soon open chamber of commerce and industry in Kohat for the benefit of business community of the region, says State Minister for Trade Senator Abbas Afridi.

The senator while addressing a meeting at Bilitang on Friday said installation of gas meters in the area would be started within a week ridding the women of the ordeal of collecting wood for burning purposes.

He announced that with the establishment of the chamber of commerce and industry the business community of Kohat, Hangu, Thall, Karak and Bannu would benefit a lot. His brother, Malik Amjid Afridi, who is the Housing Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formally inaugurated the supply of gas to Bilitang.

In his speech he said the main pipeline of gas to Punjab passed though Bilitang but the area had been kept deprived of the facility due to shortage of funds for over a decade. He said two separate colleges for boys and girls would start functioning very soon.

ARMS SEIZED: The police seized cache of arms and ammunition which was smuggled from Darra Adam Khel without permit for delivery to local arms dealers on

Friday. Two carriers, Tofail and Sohail Shah, residents of Jungle Khel, were held with the consignment.

The seizure included 26 pistols, three repeaters, two Kalakovs and thousands of cartridges of different bores. The city police registered case against the carriers.

SCHEMES APPROVED: The district development advisory committee (DDAC) on Friday approved 123 schemes costing Rs180 million in all the three provincial assembly constituencies.

This came at a meeting presided over by the chairman of the DDAC, District Coordination Officer, Kohat, Zakir Hussain Syed. It was also attended by MPA Dr Iqbal Din Fana, tehsil municipal officers of Kohat and Lachi Mohammad Shoeb and Mohammad Amin. Thirty-nine schemes were approved in PK-37 from the chief minister’s fund costing Rs40 million and 15 projects from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tameer programme which would cost Rs20 million.Similarly, in PK-38, 45 schemes were approved costing Rs60 million. In PK-39, Rs60 million would be spent on 34 schemes.

The chairman of the DDAC asked the officers to complete the PC-I of the schemes so that work could be started as soon as possible.