PESHAWAR - Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday directed all Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ministers to attend their offices daily and work until the evenings, warning that the unproductive cabinet members will be shown the door.
Addressing a gathering held in Peshawar to mark completion of 100 days of new PTI government term in KP, he also directed provincial health minister to take action against all those officers who were creating hurdles in their health reforms agenda.
The prime minister revealed that Pakistan has facilitated fresh round of dialogue between the US and Afghan Taliban which would be held next week, expressing the hope that peace in Afghanistan would turn Peshawar into a trade hub.
Khan said that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf won the people's mandate again in the province solely on the basis of its performance and expressed the hope the party will again come up to their expectations.
The PTI won the 2018 polls without dishing out billions of rupees in development funds and employing other "traditional, political tactics"
In contrast, the previous government of Punjab had spent billions in development funds in order to influence the 2018 elections, he claimed about the rival PML-N.
He thanked the people of KP for reposing trust the ruling party and giving them a fantastic mandate, pointing out that the electorate of province never re-elected any ruling party in the past.
The prime minister said his government was working to make Pakistan a strong economy through tapping of unutilised national resources, curbing of corruption and making the country investor-friendly.
Their ultimate goal remains turning the country into a true welfare state by replicating the model of Riyasat-e-Madinah where no poor and weak citizen remains unprotected, he declared.
He said it was for the first time in Pakistan's history that a government was making efforts to create a uniform education system in the country which he said would be crucial in bridging the rich-poor divide.
The premier announced to shift Frontier Constabulary from Bala Hisar Fort to an alternate place and open it for the general public. The PM said this historic fort will be converted into a tourism spot.
He also directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister to convert unutilised public lands into parks and sports grounds to provide maximum sports facilities to youth.
As part of the efforts to help establish the rule of law, Imran Khan directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to immediately implement the Civil Procedure Code for disposing of civil cases within one year.
Earlier, the prime minister chaired a cabinet meeting at the chief minister house where all the ministers briefed him on their 100 days performance.
Praise for KP, Punjab CMs
He spoke high of Punjab and KP chief ministers Usman Buzdar and Mahmood Khan in his address at Nishtar Hall, where ministers, members of provincial assembly and administrative secretaries were present.
Reiterating his trust in their honesty and credibility, he strongly defended his decision of appointing them as CMs and termed them "honest" men.
He said the people had "made a lot of fun" when the PTI elected Usman Buzdar , who hails from a backward region, as the chief minister.
"The people of Punjab were in the wrong habit for the past 30 years of seeing a chief minister who acts like a king," Khan said without naming PML-N top leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif.
Buzdar on the other hand is a "simple man" who did not use a heavy protocol or spend lavishly, the PM said. Usman Buzdar is an honest and a courageous man who has gone tough on the big mafias in the province, he added.
Taliban-US talks
Prime Minister Imran Khan said the US administration that had been harping on ‘Do More’ mantra was now seeking Pakistan’s support to facilitate peace talks with Afghan Taliban.
He disclosed that Islamabad has arranged fresh round of talks between the two which will take place on Monday (December 17).
The PM criticised those who had labelled him as Taliban Khan after he had called for peace talks with Taliban as a durable peace solution.
Talking about the fruits Pakistan would gain from end of hostilities in Afghanistan, he said “If peace prevailed in our neighbour, this provincial capital of KP will be the hub of tourism and commerce.”
Appreciation and warning
Appreciating the landmark performance of previous KP government in the education field, the prime minister called for further improvement into it with special focus on higher education.
The prime minister termed planting of one billion trees by the KP government a historic achievement and congratulated them on the milestone. He said the federal and Punjab governments would also replicate the KP model in their 10 billion tree plantation drive.
Khan however reminded the ministers and officials seated in the audience that all of them needed to go to their offices daily and remain there till the evening.
He said he would know whether or not they were going to their offices regularly. "And then none of you [who would be derelict] should say 'my ministry was taken away from me'," the prime minister warned.
In a lighter vein, Imran Khan said previous governments always used to be afraid that if a minister is removed, he or she will form a forward bloc and "the government will be toppled". "We don't even face that issue now," he added, amidst laughter from the audience.
"Keep in mind, I am receiving messages from a lot of MPAs who all want to become ministers, so if you don't work [be ready to be replaced]," he told the ministers with a tongue in cheek.
The premier reminded the provincial lawmakers that the sole target of their 100-day plan should be to create policies for the uplift of the poor segment of the society.
He said that during their previous tenure in KP two secretaries in health department were working against the reforms agenda of PTI and that was why the reforms process was delayed to a great extent.
The PM directed health minister Hisham Inamullah to punish those bureaucrats who were putting hurdles in the way of reforms. He said that people have given mandate to ministers and he has the right to act as per the wishes of the masses.
Good days ahead
The prime minister said it was unfortunate that being a 210 million nation, Pakistan’s exports volume stood at $24 billion against $220 billion of Malaysia and $330 billion of Singapore.
But he assured the gathering that the country would get rid of financial troubles once the government regained public trust by spending taxes on public welfare.
Reiterating his resolve to fight corruption, he urged the people to keep an eye on spending of their money by the government as it was public money which was embezzled.
He said the administration had recovered land worth Rs 350 billion from illegal occupation in Islamabad and even more in Punjab. He rubbished the propaganda against operation and said it was the public property that had been vacated.
Khan said the government was taking all out measures to remover systemic bottlenecks and discourage red tape to create an investor-friendly atmosphere in the country as the world was eyeing Pakistan for investment.
He urged the officials to remind the bureaucrats working under them that they needed to ensure 'ease of doing business' to generate investment in the country.
The prime minister said the federal government was constructing Momand Dam, which would not only produce electricity but also resolve the issue of drinking water in Peshawar forever.
Drinking water was an issue in all the major cities and the government had made a comprehensive programme to resolve the matter in next five years, he added.
No room for British Raj style rule
The prime minister said that PTI’s was the first government which focused on the poor classes of the society as the previous governments did not even think to facilitate these underprivileged people.
Defending his government’s steps of auctioning luxury cars as well as buffaloes kept at PM House, he said our people were still running the country on the pattern of British Raj wherein the occupiers used to live like monarchs on the taxes of local people.
He recalled those days when Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif were spending Rs35 billion on their advertisement campaign and it was the time when Governor House and President House remained closed for the general public.
The prime minister said the idea behind demolishing the boundary wall of Governor House Lahore was to give the people access to the magnificent building and advised the KP governor to invite student delegations to the Governor House Peshawar.
Khan said that state of Madinah means that they have to follow the Sunnah of Holy Prophet [Peace Be Upon Him] to make Pakistan a welfare state.
Fata uplift
He appealed to the people of tribal areas to support Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in the process reforms as it is a difficult task and will take some months to bring a new system, however in the first phase they would be given health cards.
The prime minister said the KP governor and chief minister along with tribal members of the National Assembly would jointly set a roadmap for development projects of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
He said detailed deliberations were also held about the Fata interim law regulations, which had been suspended by the Peshawar High Court.
The prime minister said the local government system for tribal areas was very important as it would start resolving problems of the people at the grassroots level.
Shelter house inauguration
Earlier Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated a well-equipped shelter house for the homeless people of Peshawar which would be extended to each divisional level in near future.
The first shelter house was inaugurated at Pajaggai road while other shelter houses would soon be opened at Kohat bus stand and Haji camp bus stop to cater more shelter less people who are spending winter nights in open sky.
The prime minister inspected its various sections and asked several quarries about facilities made available to the shelter-less people.
The homeless people on this occasion thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for provision of facilities to prevent them from chilly weather.
The project is aimed at restoring the self-respect of those people who spend the night under the open sky besides broadening the circle of social responsibility by the state and citizens.
Briefing the prime minister, Social Welfare Department Secretary Muhammad Idrees Marwat said that five shelter homes have been established in Peshawar at Kohat Adda, Charsadda Road, Karkhano, Hajji Camp and Pajaggai Road to provide better facilities to homeless and needy people.
The prime minister was told that 20 rooms at Pajaggai Road shelter home were equipped with all latest facilities including UPS, water geysers, electricity and medical care facilities.
Over 430 people will be accommodated in the shelter homes where they will also be provided free food. Over 100-bed have been arranged inside the shelter homes to accommodate the poor.
The officers of social welfare department have been posted in the shelter homes for proper look after of the inmates.
The KP chief minister has also made special transport arrangements to help move homeless people from congested parts of the city to the shelters.
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