Muqam lauds relief from tax in Malakand Division

CHAKDARA: Federal Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) provincial President Engineer Amir Muqam on Tuesday said that the doubts and concerns regarding the imposition of taxes in the Malakand Division had been resolved.

Speaking to the media during his visit to Gulabad in Lower Dir, he congratulated the people of Malakand and stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had previously provided relief to the region and had done so again.

Criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for its governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muqam said that the 13-year rule of PTI was marked by corruption and mismanagement, the effects of which would remain part of the province’s history.

Referring to the Kohistan scandal, the federal minister claimed that the provincial government initially tried to cover up the financial irregularities, but even PTI’s own ministers eventually raised concerns over poor governance and corruption.

He added that the speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly acknowledged during a meeting that financial scandals amounting to Rs200 billion had occurred at the provincial level similar to the Kohistan case.

Muqam stated that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had so far recovered Rs20 billion in the Kohistan scandal, exposing PTI’s slogan of “clean and transparent governance.” He noted that NAB’s investigations into billions worth of corruption and other financial crimes were still ongoing.