Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has vowed, the provincial government will not allow the enforcement of Customs Act in Malakand Division and will extend all support to the people on this issue. Pervez Khattak while clarifying the position of the KP government regarding extending of the Customs Act to Malakand Division on the floor of the KP assembly here on Wednesday said, despite the provincial government advise to the apex committee for regularisation of smuggled and stolen vehicles during a meeting, the federal government levied taxes under the Customs Act in Malakand Division.
The chief minister said that the provincial government had already contacted the federal government in this regard, while stating, that according to the agreement with the people of Malakand Division, the federal government is not authorised to levy taxes. Also, he said in this regard the KP government had already written to the Federal Minister for Finance.
Khattak also said, that to prevent illegal/stolen vehicles entering Malakand Division, the provincial government had proposed allowing import of duty-free vehicles to the area. He said that KP government is not in favour of extending the Customs Act to Malakand Division and supports the people of Malakand division on this issue. Meanwhile, addressing the provincial assembly after passage of provincial budget for fiscal 2016-16, the Chief Minister Khattak said, his government made record utilisation of budget allocations for Annual Development Programs last year, with 85 percent of spending.
He said, previous governments of KP had left a big mess for them and that this could not be undone overnight, despite a PTI-led coalition government making efforts to straighten things. He told the KP assembly that the federal government has started paying outstanding dues under the head of net hydel profit in instalments, adding that earlier the payable amount under the net hydel profit was Rs 6 billion, but his government challenged the matter in court and the federal government agreed to pay Rs 12 billion annually.
Referring to the Chashma left canal project he said, the KP assembly deserves credit for jointly pursuing the matter and compelling the federal government to release funds allocated for development projects in the federal budget. He said the KP government has also taken up the issue of royalty on gas, oil and electricity with the federal government and asked them to release the amount to the province.
KP Chief Minister speaking on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said that due to the joint efforts of opposition and treasury members the federal government allocated funds for constructing an expressway and railway line from Peshawar to DI Khan under the project.
He asked the federal government to give 13 percent agreed share of the total power generation of the province, enabling KP to meet its energy needs, while threatening that otherwise the KP government would start protests. Regarding the education sector, Pervez Khattak said the PTI-led coalition government inherited a ruined educational system and damaged infrastructure in 2013, but it had improved the education sector by means of various measures across the province. In the health sector, he said the PTI was the first government of the province that had given autonomy to hospitals enabling them to improve health and services standard while generating resources on their own.
He said, salaries of doctors have also been raised so they do not neglect patients in government hospitals by doing private practice to earn more money. The CM also informed that he would randomly visit government hospitals on a weekly basis to monitor the health standards and services. He further said that health insurance program has also been introduced in 24 districts of KP. Regarding emergencies services, the CM said that the services of Rescue-1122 have been further extended to 12 districts. Later, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak announced two months honoraria for staff of the provincial assembly.
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