Orakzai elders want coalmine lease cancelled

KALAYA: The elders of Uthmankhel tribe in lower part of Orakzai tribal district on Tuesday asked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, chief secretary and other authorities to cancel the coalmine lease to an outsider, or else the government would be responsible for any untoward incident.

Speaking at a press conference, the elders of Uthmankhel tribe, including Ibrahim, Gula Noor, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Rafiq, Yaghistan, Rahmanullah, Sherbaz Khan and others alleged that one Jehanzeb from Darra Adamkhel had grabbed the coalmine through a fraud in Dabaltang area in lower Orakzai. They said that the coalmine was located in the lower Orakzai but the lease holder Jehanzeb in connivance with the officials of Mine and Mineral Department showed it in the map in Akhorwal area of Darra Adamkhel in Kohat district. They said that it was not acceptable to them and would go to any extent to reclaim their land and the coalmine. They said that the coalmine lease awarded to an outsider should be cancelled and be given to the local people for which they had submitted applications with the Orakzai deputy commissioner. The elders appealed to the chief minister, chief secretary, director general Mine and Mineral Department, Kohat division commissioner and Orakzai deputy commissioner to help resolve the issue or else they would launch a stronger protest for their rights.