Minister says amount higher than last year’s collection
PESHAWAR: The Mines and Mineral Department has collected Rs1.74 billion of revenue so far against its target of Rs2.24 billion and is higher than the previous year, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was told on Monday.
Minister for Mines and Minerals Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli told the House that the department had collected revenue of Rs1.74 billion against the current year target of Rs2.24 billion.She added that last year’s revenue stood at Rs940 million and that of the previous year was even lower. “This showed considerable increase in the mining sector,” she said.
To a question by Sobia Shahid of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) about illegal mining in the province, Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli said no illegal mining was taking place anywhere in the province as the department had adopted strict vigilance system.
“The members instead of just relying on hearsay should identify the place where illegal mining is being carried out,” she replied to a supplementary question of Sheraz Khan of the PML-N.Sheraz Khan had alleged that daily 50 to 60 truckloads of mining material were illegally excavated in the last four years.
To another question raised by Mufti Said Janan of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Aniza Zeb Tahirkheli said no new lease was being given except for the ones granted by the courts after stay orders and those violating the rules were punished properly.
Mufti Said Janan said his questions about non-awarding of lease for the mining of precious stones had been pending since long.However, the minister said that legal mining of precious stones had not been stopped. She cited the example of emerald mining in Swat.
On a point of order, dissident member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Amjad Afridi complained that the gas royalty funds to Kohat and Hangu had not been released despite the ruling of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker. He said three years would be completed in June but the gas royalty amount was not released.
Mehmood Khan Bhittani of JUI-F and Muhammad Ali Shah of Pakistan People’s Party also supported the viewpoint of Amjad Afridi and said the electricity royalty and tobacco cess funds were also not being released despite the fact that the Speaker had given his ruling six months ago to release the funds.
Finance Minister Muzaffar Sayyid assured the House about the release of the funds in one week if these were pending in his department.Speaker Asad Qaiser, who presided over the session for the first time after allegations of corruption against him, referred to the concerned committee a privilege motion of Mufti Fazal Ghafoor regarding misbehaviour of the district health officer (DHO) Buner .
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Consumer Protection (amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced while the KP Societies Registration (amendment) Bill, 2017 was referred to the select committee for further deliberation.
Earlier, Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman announced taking back his words about a female member Nighat Orakzai belonging to the PPP. His remarks had led to protest in the House.However, he clarified that he didn’t mean to insult any member rather he wanted to know about the complaints against his department.
