Amir Muqam embarrassed PML-N leaders: KP govt

Helicopter use issue

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Wednesday said that by playing up the helicopter use issue the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Amir Muqam became a source of embarrassment for his own party leaders who it alleged used helicopters for longer hours.

Responding to the questions during the briefing to the media on decisions of the provincial cabinet meeting here at the Cabinet Room of the Civil Secretariat, provincial government spokesperson, Shah Farman, said it was now time for Amir Muqam to give account of the helicopters being used by his party leadership.

Shah Farman, who is also holding the portfolio of Public Health and Engineering (PHE), while giving his government’s take on the allegations of Amir Muqam about the misuse of helicopter by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and ministers, said, “before seeking details from us he, (Amir Muqam) should give details of sorties of the helicopters made by those belonging to his party.”

Amir Muqam, advisor to the prime minister, had recently raised the issue of use of helicopters by the provincial government.Flanked by Secretary Information, Arshad Majeed Mohmand, the provincial minister claimed that Amir Muqam was only maligning his own party leadership by blowing up out of proportion the issue of helicopters use that forced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to release the startling details about the use of two helicopters in the province by the PML-N leadership.

According to the details shared with the media in the briefing, the former chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti and others in his government used helicopters for 1122 hours, while the incumbent chief minister, his ministers and officials use the choppers for 567 hours.

It also revealed that the governors, who served with the current provincial government included former governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan and incumbent Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra who used the official helicopters for 437 hours.

He said the PML-N leadership was passing through severe anxiety due to the expected decision in the PanamaLeaks case and they were targeting political leaderships in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to hide their embarrassment.

Turning to the decisions of the cabinet, Shah Farman said authority of the civil courts had been increased. Previously, these could hear cases amounting to Rs1 million but now this limit was raised to Rs10 million.

The private companies were allowed to invest in projects under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act in the perspective of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The cabinet, the minister, said had also approved 30 per cent special allowance for the employees of the provincial ombudsman.

He added that it also approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commercialisation Local Government (Amendment) Act 2017 to allow use of the residential properties in the University Town for commercials purposes. It will remain enforced for five years.

To a question, Shah Farman added that the government had conveyed its concern to the federal government to work out a mechanism for entry on census forms of the residents of the province working abroad or in other provinces.

To another question about the appointment of the director general of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC), he said that DG KPEC would be appointed as per the procedure laid down in the law.

The minister said anyone could retrieve relevant record from the KPEC about the procedure being adopted for the appointment of the director general and no amendments to the Ehtesab Commission law was under consideration to accommodate anyone.