- Federal govt denying NOCs to several power projects in KP, says Khattak
ISLAMABAD: The police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) should not be denounced over a few cases, KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said, apparently referring to criticisms at the force that followed the killings of Asma Rani in Kohat and a minor in Mardan.
While addressing the media during a news conference in the federal capital Wednesday, KP CM said that the forensic laboratory in the province will start working on the recent cases in 15 to 20 days.
However, he added that the work was not delayed due to any political pressure.
“There is no political intervention in KP police,” the CM said. “The KP government does not meddle in the affairs of the police and it is autonomous just like the army is.”
Khattak said that even if the matter revolves around the district police officer, the inspector general of police in KP does not consult the government officials. “The brother of an MPA is behind bars but I have said nothing on the matter.”
According to the CM, the KP government does not believe in pressurising the police as it does not have any positive outcomes.
The chief minister also lauded the police in the province and said that it was better than the force in Punjab.
Separately, speaking at another press conference along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, CM Khattak protested that the PML-N-led federal government has been creating hurdles in the oil refinery project deal between the KP government and a Russian oil and gas association.
The chief minister said that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company Limited (KPOGCL) signed a deal with a Russian group of investors to set up a medium-sized refinery in the Kohat district, but the federal government has been showing reluctance to sanction the pact.
Khattak also alleged that the federal government has been denying no-objection certificates (NOCs) to the province for several energy projects.
Addressing the press conference, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that the federal government has set up a coal power plant in Sahiwal when no country in the world owing to the environmental hazards of coal power generators uses them.
Imran said that the government is not utilising its resources, instead is giving preference to importing coal and LNG for power production in a bid to earn maximum commissions. “The import of fuel is a burden on national exchequer,” he said.
Environmental pollution is an emerging issue in the country, Imran said while adding that the Sahiwal coal power project’s operation will be dangerous for the health of the people.
He alleged that the federal government is not accepting KP government’s offer to add 74MW electricity to the national grid.
On one end Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif challenges the KP government to show how many megawatts electricity has it produced, and on the other he obstructs the provincial government when it wants to add electricity to the national grid, said Imran while referring to Shehbaz’s question over the KP government’s role in the betterment of the energy sector.
