Nazims, naib nazims warn of protest if funds not released

MANSEHRA: The nazims and naib nazims of village and neighbourhood councils of Mansehra have asked government to release non-development budget or else they would lock down offices in protest.

“We have communicated our demand to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through assistant director to release our salary budget without any further delay, otherwise we would shut our offices in protest by February 1,” Basharat Ali, nazim of village council Safdar told reporters on Sunday.

A delegation of nazims and naib nazims of village and neighbourhood councils led by Basharat Ali met Local Government Assistant Director Ziaur Rehman Jadoon and apprised him of their problems.

He said the development process in the district was in progress as government released first two tranches in 2016-17 but they had not yet received any non-development budget. “Owners of rented offices have served notices to vacate their buildings as we have not paid rent for the last seven months,” he said.

The nazim of Safdar village council said nazims and naib nazims of village and neighbourhood councils across the district had decided to shut their offices if funds were not released before the start of next month. Basharat Ali appealed the chief minister to take notice of the situation and release non-development budget so that they could serve the people well.