Key Takeaways
- Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accused the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of misusing funds.
- Tarar alleged that the PTI government prioritizes protests over development projects.
- He claimed the PTI has trapped the province in poverty and lack of development.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday criticized the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for a 'lack of governance' in the province, alleging misallocation of funds and prioritizing protests over development projects.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Tarar said the provincial government was given Rs700 billion under the National Finance Commission for development projects but had not used the funds to upgrade the Counter Terrorism Department, establish forensic labs, or install safe city cameras in the merged districts and entry-exit points.
Tarar alleged that the PTI was spending this money on organizing protests, stating, 'You don’t even give half an hour to discuss the terrorism in the province; but you organise six-hour meetings to spread turmoil and vandalism.'
He further accused the PTI of trapping millions of people in poverty, disease, and ignorance, saying, 'You trapped them in poverty, in disease by not providing the adequate health facilities, in ignorance by not providing educational opportunities, and in non-development by not improving infrastructure.'
Tarar also alleged that the KP government had held the people of the province 'captive to terrorists' and facilitated the settlement of terrorists in the country, questioning, 'For how long will it go on? That the security forces will clear the area of terrorists and establish peace back, but you will bring the terrorists back?'
During his address, Tarar said that the PTI government in KP had dragged the province into the 'stone age' during the last 13-and-a-half years, citing various federal government projects and maintaining that there was no comparison of the hours spent working by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to address governance issues and take relief and reform measures.
He questioned, 'Tell us if you have ever given a big hospital, a university, a highway to your people, an information technology project to the youth of KP or given them laptops or gadgets?'
Tarar claimed that the KP government wanted to hand over the province to terrorists as it prioritized 'personal interests over the national interests,' stating, 'This province needs peace, not politics.'
You did not upgrade the Counter Terrorism Department, did not establish forensic labs, did not install safe city cameras, which should be installed in the merged districts and all the entry-exit points of KP’s districts.
Attaullah Tarar, Information Minister
You don’t even give half an hour to discuss the terrorism in the province; but you organise six-hour meetings to spread turmoil and vandalism.
Attaullah Tarar, Information Minister
You trapped them in poverty, in disease by not providing the adequate health facilities, in ignorance by not providing educational opportunities, and in non-development by not improving infrastructure.
Attaullah Tarar, Information Minister
