TIMERGARA: Social and political activists on Monday complained about lack of official attention to the problems facing the people of the newly-created Balambat tehsil of Lower Dir district.
They were speaking at a ‘forum on local issues’ arranged by the Timergara Press Club with tehsil nazim Imranuddin in the chair.
The Balambat tehsil comprises of five union councils namely Rabat, Munjai, Koto, Haya Serai and Balambat and almost all offices of the district administration are situated here.
On the occasion, PPP activist Javid Iqbal said most of the agriculture lands in Koto and Munjai located along the Panjkora River were inundated in the 2010 flash floods, but the government took no measure to protect their lands.
He demanded construction of a separate bypass road from Khazana bypass to Balambat to get rid of frequent traffic jams in Balambat.
Tehsil council candidate from Haya Serai Rahimullah said several water supply schemes had been non-functional in the area as power transformers had been stolen. He said public health engineering department was unmoved against the thieves. He also complained about excessive power outage on Maidan Lal Qila feeder.
ANP tehsil general secretary Malik Ikram Khan said due to poor sanitation system heaps of filth lied on the roads and streets. He complained about water contamination due to obsolete pipelines.
Balambat village council nazim Haji Nazar Gul condemned the ANP leadership for ‘distributing gas meters on political grounds’. He said the houses located above the Balambat irrigation channel had been facing acute water shortage.
PTI woman councillor Saira Shamsul Qamar complained about poor performance of social welfare department, Pakistan Baitul Mal and district government. She said district councillors were crying for development funds and other perks and privileges, but to no avail.
PML-N provincial joint secretary Malik Farooq Iqbal said there had been no mega development project in the area.
Minority councillor Shehzad Khokhar complained about delay in the promised construction of a church. PPP Malikabad village council nazim Nawab Alam said youth were addicted to drugs in the absence of entertainment facilities.
JI Balamat emir Majidullah demanded installation of streetlights in the bazaar.
On the occasion, tehsil nazim Imranuddin alleged that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was not sincere in developing the local government system. He claimed that the provincial government cut 15 per cent of LG funds last year and 20 per cent this year. He said the newly-established Balambat TMA had no alternative source of income.
He said the tehsil government had borrowed Rs4 million from Timergara TMA to pay to its employees.
MONEY LENDING: Deputy commissioner Irfanullah Khan Wazir has directed assistant commissioners to arrange meetings of elders of their respective tehsils to pinpoint the elements involved in the interest (Riba) based money lending.
In this regard Assistant Commissioner, Adenzai, Shah Jamil Khan arranged a gathering on Monday, where he appealed to the general public to expose the elements involved in the illegal practice.
The participants appreciated the steps taken by the provincial government for elimination of interest-based money lending and assured their full cooperation in that regard.
Published in Dawn January 17th, 2017