Governor questions PTI govt performance

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Friday put under question the performance of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in the province by citing rising lawlessness and other issues.

He called for a probe to determine the exact nature of the blast at the police station in Swabi the previous day that took two lives. “A probe must be conducted if the blast was caused by a short-circuit is being claimed”, he said while talking to the media.

Questioning the competence of the PTI government in KP, he said: “This government has nothing to do”.The governor expressed concern over the situation in Kurram tribal district and lamented that 60 people had lost lives and several others injured in the violence so far.

Referring to the recent blast in Swat where the convoy of foreign diplomats was targeted in a roadside blast, he said both the federal and KP government were to blame for that. “Why were the diplomats of 11 countries taken to Swat by road?” he wondered.

Kundi was critical of the Billion Tree and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects of the PTI government in KP. “The trees project benefitted the timber mafia while BRT is the biggest corruption-hit scheme,” he added.

The governor came down hard on the two PTI lawmakers for storming the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) building in Hayatabad a day before in a bid to stop the civic agency from carrying out the anti-encroachment drive in their areas.

“ The PTI leaders don’t know how to talk to government officials. They resort to hooliganism,” he said while referring to MNA Asif Khan and MPA Fazal Elahi who had allegedly used insulting language against the PDA senior officials in their office on Thursday that triggered a protest by the employees who blocked a road and BRT route to register anger at the incident.

Kundi scoffed at the appointment of the former governor, Shah Farman, as adviser to the KP chief minister. “He [Shah Farman] has been demoted as he used to be the governor in the past and now has been named adviser. However, it will be good if he trains the chief minister”, he said sarcastically.