Chief Minister Khattak says govt won’t push through legislation without opposition’s input
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak Tuesday said that the cabinet enquiry committee on the Bank of Khyber (BoK) will present its report in the provincial assembly on Monday.
Following a public spat between KP Finance Minister Muzaffar Said and the management of the BoK, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak ordered an inquiry into the matter on April 16. The controversy emerged after the bank’s management published an advertisement in the major dailies in the country.
Responding to the point of orders of Leader of the Opposition Maulana Lutfur-Rehman, Nighat Yasmin Orakzai of PPP, Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha of PML-N and Sardar Hussain Babak of ANP, the chief minister said that the report had been submitted to him last Monday and as per commitment it will be presented in the house for debate next Monday.
LEGISLATION WILL NOT BE BULLDOZED:
The chief minister said the amended Ehtesab Commission Bill will be presented in the house on Friday and will be referred to the select committee. He said that they had not bulldozed any legislation and all the important laws including Ehtesab Commission Act, Right to Information (RTI) Act and Right to Service (RTS) Act were passed in consultation with the opposition.
He assured the opposition that all the important legislation will be done with their consultations and it will never be bulldozed.
LAPSE OF DEVELOPMENT FUNDS:
Regarding the lapses of the funds allocated under the Annual Development Programme (ADP), he said that the utilisation target of 80 per cent had never been achieved and the PTI government in the first year utilised 70 per cent funds. However, he said that ADP funds never go to waste and with the beginning of the new financial year they once again resume.
He said that the provincial government last year spent 92 per cent of the ADP funds and in the current year it will utilise 85 per cent. He said that during the current year, funds of Rs 70 billion have already been spent and in the remaining time, the tally will reach Rs 115 billion.
The chief minister said that this year, receipt from the federal government had declined by Rs 17 billion while an amount of Rs 5 billion was spent on the rehabilitation of flood affectees. Another Rs 5 billion were spent on increasing the salaries of doctors.