LG minister urged to ensure funds and powers to LG reps

HARIPUR: The chairman and members of Haripur Tehsil Council on Wednesday displayed a rare unity in demanding powers and funds from the KP government and vowed to stage protests above party affiliations for the rights of the electorates.

This was announced by Tehsil Council Chairman Samiullah Khan and members during the council’s session which was presided over by convener Khanzeb Khan.The members vented anger at the KP government and said two and half years had passed but they remained deprived of funds and the powers despite that these were enshrined in the local government’s law.

They said they were unable to satisfy their voters who had supported and voted them to the two tiers of the local governments as they could not carry out development projects in their respective constituencies.

Condemning the provincial government’s attitude towards the elected chairmen and councilors, Ishtiaq Haider the chairman of Dheenda VC, said the elected representatives at the grassroots level were crying for the funds and the powers despite that the LG Minister for Local Governments Arshad Ayub Khan hailed from Haripur.

He urged the provincial minister to play a practical role in empowering the LG representatives as approval and implementation of small developmental schemes was purely the domain of local village, neighborhood, and tehsil councils.

Malik Faisal Iqbal Khan, chairman of Malikyar VC and president of the Chairmen Ittehad, also condemned the “discriminatory” attitude of the provincial government towards LG, adding that a democratically elected government had usurped the rights of the elected chairman.

Taimoor Khan, Liaqat Hayat, and others expressed resentment at the delay in disbursement of funds to the councilors and chairmen and vowed to fight for the rights of their voters without caring about party affiliations.

Tehsil Chairman Samiullah Khan assured the house that he would join all the members of the Tehsil Council in future protests for legal rights.Later, led by Malik Faisal Iqbal Khan, the members of the Haripur Tehsil Council left for Peshawar where they joined other protesting chairmen from across the province.