Incomplete water filtration scheme: provincial government declines to take responsibility

Senior Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bashir Ahmad Bilour has said the provincial government had declined to accept the responsibility of the incomplete water filtration scheme in the province. This he stated while replying to questions of Pervez Ahmad Khan, Qalandar Khan Lodhi and Saqibullah Khan Chamkani during question-hour of the provincial legislature on Wednesday.
The proceedings of the provincial assembly were resumed with Speaker Kiramatullah Khan in the chair. The house started proceedings after a delay of one hour. In the written reply presented in the house was that site for the installation of the water filtration plant in Misri Banda, district Nowshera has been identified. However, the lack of acquisition of land was hampering the installations of plant.
The federal government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 2.1 billion for the scheme. The department of local bodies, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had received Rs 738.56 million, out of which an amount of Rs 632.308 million has already been utilised. Water filtration plants in union councils, Magalki, Zara Mina, Bara Banda and Rashakai have been installed. The mover Pervez Ahmad Khan said that in-functioning of the two water supply schemes has created shortage of water in union councils concerned.
Saqibullah Khan Chamkani said that dispute between the federal government and the contractor concerned resulting in the waste of the scheme. He called for giving a strong message on the matter to help it resolve. Bilour told the house that the matter is relating to irregularities involving billions of rupees. The provincial government, he said was responsible for the implementation of the scheme.
The department, he said had been devolved, but the provincial government had declined to accept into its fold. He said that the contractor has had committed that beside installation of the water plants it will also bear the salary expenses of its caretaker for a period of one year. However, out of the total 900 water filtration plants, the contractor had installed only 200. He said that irregularities committed in the scheme were amounting to billions of rupees, saying that till the resolution of dispute it could not be initiated.
The senior minister plead the chair for referring the matter to the concerned standing committee of the house to thrash it out and pinpoint those involved in the case. He said that the installed 200 water filtration plants were also in dilapidated conditions therefore, it should be referred to the committee concerned to thrash it out. In response to question of the Mohammad Ali Khan of PPP-Sherpao regarding the establishment of Girls College in Shabaqdar, the Provincial Minister for Higher Education, Qazi Mohammad Asad said that only 3 per cent of the total youth between 17 to 23 years of age have access to higher education.
The shortage of the colleges, he said creating huge problems, saying that only Peshawar required 6 more colleges to accommodate all students. He said that colleges constructed on the basis of feasibilities. He said that 15 colleges were included in the suspended annual development programme (ADP) for the current financial year. He declined to make commitment. But, pledged that he would make sincere efforts for the establishment of college for girls students of the 13 union councils of tehsil Shabqadar.