Political agent accused of selling livestock permits in black market

A parliamentarian from Kurram Agency, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on Saturday accused Political Agent Kurram of selling out livestock permits in the black market. Talking to journalists, Sajid Hussain Turi, Member National Assembly (MNA) from Kurram Agency, alleged that Political Agent Kurram Ikramullah Khan has made billions of rupees by selling out the livestock permits through black market.
According to him, the cost of a permit is Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000, but the political agent is making money by selling out a ticket from Rs 50,000 to Rs 160,000, which is a glaring example of corruption. The PA has made billions of rupees, as he has sold out 19,500 tickets with a short span of one year which, the lawmaker said, is tantamount to stabbing the people living in the remote tribal area in the back.
He claimed that through livestock permits, the area earns up to Rs 2 billion, but so far nothing has been spent on the welfare of the area, which reflects that the "baboo" is not ready to share the money with locals who are the major stakeholders. He called upon the chairman National Accountability Burea (NAB) to probe into the matter as people of the agency are ready to extend full support to the authorities in exposing the black sheep involved in it. The people of FATA have been pressing for reforms in the area in order to get rid of the absolute authority of the political administration, which has been exploiting the people due to lack of any accountability.
"This is the reason we want reforms in FATA as there exists no law and there is also no accountability of the political administration which rules the roost and thinks it is not accountable to masses," he added. When contacted for his version on the issue, Ikram was not available for comments. This correspondent made repeated attempts at his cell phone as well as the official telephone numbers but all in vain.