HANGU: The political leaders, tribal elders and civil society representatives at an All Parties Conference (APC) here Monday agreed to establish a joint Public Action Committee to address corruption, law and order concerns, governance issues and a range of public service challenges facing the district.
The conference organised by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) brought together representatives of various political parties, community leaders and social activists to discuss what participants described as growing concerns over corruption, administrative irregularities, public services and security in the district.
JUIF provincial deputy chief Mufti Ubaidullah, district chief Mufti Syed Janan, former tehsil chairman Amir Ghani, leaders of the Awami National Party (ANP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUIS) and other political parties.
The speakers alleged that corruption, poor governance, insecurity and institutional inefficiency had reached an alarming level in Hangu and expressed concern over the performance of government hospitals, educational institutions and other departments, claiming that several development projects remained incomplete despite the passage of several years.
The participants noted that 12 schools launched under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in 2008 had yet to be completed, depriving local communities of educational facilities.
Addressing the conference, Syed Hussain Ali Shah alleged that inaccuracies in the population census had adversely affected Hangu’s political representation, resulting in the district losing one each seat of national and provincial assemblies. He claimed that despite an annual budget of Rs490 million, the district hospital continued to refer most patients to Peshawar for treatment.
Farid Mufakkir said that census-related discrepancies had negatively impacted the district’s rights and resource allocation. He said 19 Basic Health Units (BHUs) were short of doctors while many schools remained in poor condition.
Atiqur Rehman said several federal departments had failed to fulfill their responsibilities in the district. Stressing the importance of peace for development, he argued that dialogue and consensus were essential for resolving local issues. He also criticised alleged irregularities in the utilization of health card and royalty funds.
The ANP leader, Syed Umar, called for the restoration of security checkpoints, completion of the university building project and the upgradation of educational institutions in the district.The JUIS district chief Maulana Abdul Rafi said that the census process had been unfair to Hangu and emphasised the need for political unity to improve the security situation. He said that while threat alerts were frequently issued, effective security measures were often not taken to avert tragic incidents.
Hafiz Abdul Hadi urged political leaders to raise the census issue at the national level. He termed corruption as the district’s biggest problem and called for the establishment of a university, postgraduate college and IT and cyber security programmes for local youth.Maulana Abdul Sattar appealed to all political parties to unite in efforts to combat corruption and address public grievances through practical measures.
