ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Tuesday that no gas load shedding is being carried out in any part of the country.

Responding to a calling attention notice moved by Agha Hassan Baloch, Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan admitted there is issue of low gas pressure in different cities.

He said Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Limited is executing two projects of replacing the old pipelines with new ones at a cost of 2.28 billion rupees.
The petroleum minister said installation of new pipelines and new compressors will help address the issue of low gas pressure and added gas distribution companies have also been directed to check their losses and gas theft.

Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi told the House a plan will be unveiled in March next year to make National Counter Terrorism Authority [NACTA] more meaningful and vibrant. He said national security is the focus of the government.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said all the stakeholders including the political parties should sit together to formulate a charter of economy.

Responding to the points raised by Ajmal Khan on the problems faced by farmers, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhary said the government is giving priority to the uplift of agriculture sector as this sector is also being made part of multi billion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

On the protest of teachers of basic education community schools at D Chowk in Islamabad, Minister of Education Shafqat Mahmood assured their salaries will soon be paid after approval of over three billion rupees by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council for this purpose.

A number of bills were laid before the House on Tuesday including The Constitution (Amendment) bill, 2018 (Articles 25 B, 51, 63 B, 92 and 106), Pakistan Psychological Council Bill, 2018, The Election (Amendment) Bill, 2018, The Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, (Article 106).

KARACHI: The Supreme Court has summoned today (Wednesday) officials of the federal and provincial governments, as well as Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, to present recommendations on how they plan to resolve issues faced in clearing encroachments in the port city.

The SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijazul Hasan, was hearing a review petition, filed by the Sindh government, against the anti-encroachment drive in Karachi.

The approach of the Sindh government is that they want to give legal cover to the encroached-upon spaces, remarked CJP Nisar. Justice Ijazul Hasan, in his remarks, said that the operation must continue and if the momentum was broken, it would be difficult to resume the anti-encroachment drive.

Sindh govt’s stance

Sindh Advocate-General Salman Talibuddin maintained that the anti-encroachment operation was causing unemployment on a large scale. The court had given orders to clear Empress Market and its vicinity of encroachments, he said, adding that the Sindh government was trying to compensate the affectees by providing them alternative spaces.

At this, the CJP remarked that the court had ordered to turn Empress Market as a model for Karachi. The orders did not state that the operation had to be stopped. “The encroachments have been cleared and now the issue of providing alternative spaces persists,” he remarked. “If the first order has been implemented, then the provincial government should explain what will be done for the affectees,” the CJP said.

Mayor’s position

As the hearing commenced, the court lashed out over the absence of Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar and inquired about his whereabouts. Attorney General of Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan excused that the mayor may be late as routes leading to the SC had been blocked.

“Other people have already come. Did he (mayor) not know that he had to come to the Supreme Court?” the CJP questioned.

The mayor turned up at the court at this point and informed the bench that the local government had cleared the encroachments in and around Empress Market. The CJP said that the mayor has himself said that the authorities have been voluntarily clearing encroachments at the Empress Market. “We did not give orders at the time the mayor started this operation,” he said, adding that the order for clearing up the footpaths and roads was clear. “We were concerned about the law and order situation at that time too. We had directed the authorities to make Empress Market as a model. We want to ensure the right of pedestrians who walk on the road,” the CJP remarked.

The CJP questioned how the Supreme Court had worsened the law and order situation in Karachi. “How are we connected to this thing? The responsibility to provide alternate space lies with the government,” said the CJP.

Justice Arab said that the responsibility to clear roads and footpaths lay with the mayor. The CJP added that the government should make arrangements for rehabilitating the affectees by allotting them alterative spaces. “There are lots of problems over here,” the CJP said. “People have squatted on government homes and when we gave orders for their retrieval, a situation of panic erupted,” he added. The Governor had called the CJP, he recalled, pleading for the operation to be halted. “Should we spare the illegal occupants like this? Should we end the state’s writ if people start protesting? Should we bow down before the land grabbers? Should we leave Karachi like this?” he questioned. “We want to improve Karachi but your interests are coming in the way.”

AG Khan said that “we are Karachiites and we also want to see improvement”. To this, the CJP remarked that the Sindh government’s political interests acted as a stumbling block, in the presence of which improvement was not possible.

Spare the houses

Mayor Akhtar told the court that the authorities were implementing its orders but houses should be spared, to which the CJP said that the court had not given any orders for demolition of houses and the municipal authorities were doing it on their own accord, in which case it was not the court’s responsibility.

The mayor said that that had simply implemented the court’s orders and that only one building at Bagh Ibne Qasim was left. The building, he said, had armed gunmen guarding it and the matter was perhaps lying in the high court.

The CJP asked which land grabbers’ group was behind the building and said that the SC may summon for the file from the high court. “It should be heard loud and clear that illegal structures and encroachments will not be tolerated in any case,” he reiterated.

CJP Nisar asked the mayor to continue his work without any pressure. Turning to the advocate general, he said that there was no question of suspending the operation. The advocate-general requested for four weeks’ time to find some solution for the issue. The court said that mayor was claiming that they had not demolished any house. “They are breaking the shades and illegal shops,” the CJP remarked.

Mayor Akhtar said that he was personally monitoring the operation. “Tell us about a single house that has been demolished,” he asked the Sindh AG.

What followed was a heated exchange of words between the advocate-general and the mayor. The former claimed that the mayor had well passed beyond the shops. The mayor asked what he meant. The AG responded that he had been given the task to clear footpaths and parks.

The CJP asked the mayor to brief him about the obstacles he was facing in the operation. “If any court order is becoming a stumbling block, we can get the whole record,” he said. AG Talibuddin again asked the court to direct the mayor to suspend the operation for four weeks. The CJP rejected the plea and ordered the authorities to sit together and find a solution.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2018.

Firebrand PML-N leader and former minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Khawaja Salman Rafique were presented before an accountability court on Wednesday after being arrested a day earlier by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Paragon City housing scam, Express News reported.

The Rafique brothers were arrested after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected a plea seeking extension in protective bail. The anti-graft watchdog had summoned them to appear before its combined investigation team (CIT) in connection with a probe into the Paragon Housing Society.

The brothers were brought to the accountability court under heavy security. Following a brawl between lawyers and the Punjab Police, the lawyers were barred from entering the courtroom. Charged PML-N activists were also present in the court premises and raised slogans against the arrest.

Speaking to media at the accountability court, Saad lamented “discrimination and violation of human rights” by NAB. “There are CCTV cameras in my jail cell. The bathroom door is missing a lock. However, I was provided with a bed to sleep,” he said.

The former minister also expressed dismay at the breakfast provided to him by the authorities. “My family had sent home-cooked food but NAB officials returned it,” he added.

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan claimed on Wednesday that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had summoned him as a witness in the Malam Jabba land lease case.

“National Accountability Bureau has called me in the capacity of a witness, I have no connection with this case,” the chief minister told media on Wednesday, a day after he was summoned in the case.

He added that he had received NAB’s notice and would present himself in court as he respected the country’s institutions but clarified he was not being called as an accused.

The chief minister also said preparations for local body elections in tribal districts are complete. He added that Atif Khan, the committee’s chairman, is out of the country and work will resume when he returns.

According to NAB officials, Mehmood will be questioned about his alleged involvement in the scam as he was running the provincial ministry for sports during the last Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in K-P.

“Since he was running the sports ministry, Mehmood will be questioned for his alleged involvement in the lease scandal,” a senior NAB official told The Express Tribune while requesting to remain anonymous.

The anti-corruption watchdog has already summoned the Minister for Youth Affairs, Culture and Tourism Atif Khan and PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz for their alleged involvement in the same leasing scandal in Swat district.

Both Khan and Aziz have been summoned on December 14 where they will be questioned about their alleged corruption.

A 275 kanal plot of land was allegedly leased out in Malam Jabba to Atif’s relative, which according to NAB officials, incurred losses to the national exchequer.

Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Principal Secretary Azam Khan have already recorded their statements in this regard.

Senator Mohsin was also called to record his testimony as he was then chairman of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Investment Board. He, however, had resigned shortly after his appointment for unknown reasons.

An advertisement published on March 3, 2014, about the Malam Jabba ski, chairlift and hotel project read stated the provincial government would arrange land measuring approximately 275 acres – five acres for hotel and 270 acres for ski resort/chairlift for a period of 33 years.

Bids were received from three parties. On the recommendation of a sub-committee, all the three firms were asked to give a presentation to the main committee. The successful bidder TCKP was asked to draft an agreement with the Samson’s Group.

The cabinet, in its meeting held on April 25, 2018, was briefed about the lease of land for the Malam Jabba chairlift and hotel. It was highlighted that the land measuring around 12 acres was leased for the chairlift and hotel while 257 acres would merely be used for roaming facility.

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government needs no opposition, as they themselves are enough to upset the masses with their bad policies, loose governance and perpetual lies, said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan.

The PML-N senator further said the only priority of the government seems to be to victimise opposition parties. “Given the government’s performance, we can take the seat back and relax,” he said as he lamented over the government’s performance so far but said his party feels for the masses and will voice their concerns on issues adversely affecting Pakistan.

“Since the PTI’s honeymoon period is over now, PML-N will up the ante against the government,” he said hinting at a strict approach from the former ruling party as the government’s first 100 days come to an end.

The former federal minister also announced the party will devise its future strategy in the coming few days.

“We want to give PTI ample time to function so that they don’t blame the opposition once they have failed,” said Mushahid Ullah.

Meanwhile, Central Spokesperson of the PML-N Marriyum Aurangzeb while terming the first 100 days of the PTI government a tale of 100 U-turns has said this hopeless and useless government after failing to perform is now trying to take credit for projects launched by the PML-N during its government.

“This theft, of stealing and taking credits for out projects is nothing new for PTI,” she said alleging that lying and stealing is the cornerstone of the current ruling party as they stole public mandate in the 2018 general elections. The former information minister further added that in these 100 days the list of PTI’s achievements is ridiculous instead of being impressive.

Criticising the government’s performance, the PML-N spokesperson asked Prime Minister Imran Khan when he will tweet about Aleema Khan’s illegal assets. “When will the money looted by Aleema Khan be brought back by the prime minister who claimed to bring back every penny of money looted from the county,” she asked.

“The people of Pakistan will be presented with 100 lies and U-Turns by PTI as their first 100 days end,” said Marriyum condemning the government for stealing the claim of projects their government had started. She said this was because PTI had nothing to show for these 100 days other than their incompetence and inability.

She said that the most significant ‘achievement’ of the government in these 100 days is the NRO given to Aleema Khan.

She said that every single day of these 100 days was a disaster for the nation as every sector of the government and private sector was hit with one disappointment after the other.

“Every word said in these 100 days was a lie, every promise a farce and every claim a hopeless failure,” said the former minister as she lashed at PTI for politicising bureaucracy and pressuring favours while derailing merit and transparency.