Slams rulers for gas crisis: Bilour says KP govt failed to protect province interests

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) senior leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour said on Tuesday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had failed to protect the interests of the province.

Through a statement issued here, ANP senior vice-president said that low pressure of the gas and hours-long power suspension had troubled the dwellers of the province.

The ANP leader said that those, who were engaged in conspiracies against the 18th Constitutional amendment, should know that British rulers had given more rights to Pakhtuns than the amendment.

“During the British rule, we had rights over mineral and other resources but these rights were usurped after the creation of one unit,” he added.

Ghulam Bilour said that power and gas were the resources of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but it was being denied its due share. “The Pakhtuns are being treated as slaves instead of giving them their due rights,” he went on to add.

The ANP leader said that suspension of electricity and gas in Peshawar speaks volume about the miseries of the residents of other districts of the province. The ANP leader added that rights of first use over the province’s resources were ensured in the 18th Amendment to the Constitution but still the provinces were looking to the federal government to protect their interests.

The same party is in government at the Centre and province but it has failed to do justice with the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.

Bilour warned that any move to undo the 18th amendment would have serious repercussions.

KP govt announces winter vacations schedule: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department has announced winter vacation in all the educational institutions.

The winter vacations in plain areas of the province would start from December 22.

The educational institutions will remain closed till December 31. These would reopen on January 1, 2019, said an official notification issued here on Tuesday.

In the mountainous districts of the province, the schools would remain closed from December 22 to February 28, 2019, and they would reopen on March 1, the notification added.