PESHAWAR: Awami National Party has expressed concerns over surge in acts of terrorism and bad governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and demanded of the government to take concrete measure to root out terrorism.

Talking to journalists after chairing meeting of the party cabinet at Bacha Khan Markaz here on Wednesday, ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan said that the state institutions and government should fulfil their responsibilities to wipe out terrorism and its root causes.

He said that terror outfits were reorganising in the province particularly in the tribal districts. He said that people of the province could not tolerate the wave of terrorism. He added that if institutions did not take action then it would create an impression that “state was sponsoring” terrorism.

The ANP leader urged the government to mobilise its assets to crush militancy. He said that bad governance was on peak in the province and senior officers were frequently posted and transferred. He said that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Peshawar was a clear example of bad governance. He demanded of the National Accountability Bureau to initiate investigations into the project.

Aimal Wali said that BRT service had been suspended for indefinite period after fire incidents in buses. He said that government had yet to make details of the fire incidents public and alleged that posts in the government owned TransPeshawar Company had been sold instead of hiring employees on merit. He claimed that total cost of BRT was around Rs100 billion.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2020