QWP asks govt to consider plight of poor

SWABI: Commenting on the imposition of 10 percent ‘super tax’ on large industries, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao on Friday said the government must make sure to save the poor people from its bad effects.

Addressing a gathering here, he said that the people from the downtrodden segments of the society were already facing the negative effects of the economic policies followed by the previous federal government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Several workers of the PTI announced joining the QWP along with their family members. He said the purchasing power of the people had diminished in the face of skyrocketing inflation. He asked the incumbent government to consider providing relief to the have-nots, who were exposed to rising inflation coupled with joblessness.

Criticizing the provincial government, Sikandar Sherpao said the PTI had been ruling KP for nine years, but it did not initiate any project to mitigate the sufferings of the poor rather it promoted nepotism, corruption and favouritism.

He said the slogan of change was a ploy to receive the people. He said the PTI reneged on its pledges as it lacked the ability to deliver and come up to the expectation of the people.

Demanding a probe into the incidents of forest fires in KP, he said the fires originated in those places where saplings were planted under the so-called Billion Tree Tsunami project. “This has created doubts over the transparency of the project,” he said, adding that investigation should be held to fix responsibility.

Couple killed: A man and his wife were killed inside a house in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal district on Friday, police said.

The police said that Khalid Rehman, a resident of Miranshah, had gone to his in-laws house in Mir Ali where he along with his wife were killed. The body of the man was shifted to Miranshah while the woman was buried in a village of Mir Ali.