Non-completion of work on bridge

Treasury benches face embarrassment due to JI MPA’s walkout

PESHAWAR: The treasury benches in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday faced embarrassment when a member from the ruling alliance staged walkout when the government failed to satisfy him for not completing work on a small bridge in his constituency for the last three years.

Mohammad Ali, Jamaat-e-Islami MPA from PK-92 Upper Dir, through an adjournment motion said the bridge in Patrak in Maidan area was washed away in the 2010 floods. He said the government approved its reconstruction and about 80 percent work was completed when the PTI-led government came into power.

“The government has approved Rs10 million for the remaining 20 percent work, but it couldn’t be completed in the last three years,” he said.

He added that a local man was killed when he fell from the bridge while crossing it. He blamed the Works and Services Department and the contractor for not completing the construction work in time and demanded the registration of a case against the officials and the contractor for negligence.

The MPA was not satisfied with the assurance of Senior Minister Inayatullah Khan, who told the House that the matter would be resolved in a meeting between secretary of the concerned department and the MPA.

Provincial Minister Akbar Ayub said the construction work would be completed in the next six month depending on the availability of funds. However, his reply couldn’t satisfy the mover.

“Our government couldn’t complete a small bridge within three years while in Punjab mega projects are carried out in three months,” he said, questioning the tall claims of the PTI-JI-QWP coalition government about completion of small and big uplift projects.

Sensing that the government was in trouble, the combined opposition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly supported the angry JI MPA by thumping the desks and shouting slogans of “shame, shame” when he criticised the government for not utilizing development fund in certain parts of the province.

The opposition parties also staged walkout when the JI MPA Mohammad Ali left the House as a mark of protest.Other members also criticised the provincial government for not honouring its promises and failing to carry out reconstruction and compensate the people for the losses caused by floods and earthquakes in Kohistan, Battagram and parts of Malakand division.