Elders stage protest during CM’s visit to South Waziristan

WANA: The elders of Mahsud and Burki tribes in South Waziristan staged a protest and boycotted the meeting with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan during his visit to the tribal district on Thursday.

Staging protest on the premises of South Waziristan deputy commissioner office, the elders, including Member Provincial Assembly Maulana Isamuddin Qureshi, Malik Masood Ahmad Mahsud, Malik Irfan Burki, ex-senator Malik Alamsher Mahsud, Arif Zaman Burki and others alleged that the government had awarded the contract of the Kotkai, Karama, Kaniguram roads to its cronies, who were using substandard material in the construction.

They said that the chief minister inaugurated the construction work on the road several kilometers away in Asman Manza, which showed the government duplicity about its tall claims of merit and fair play.

The elders complained that there were three bridges to be constructed on the road but now only cemented floors were constructed on the seasonal streams, which would be a cause of nuisance for the dwellers in case of rains and subsequent flooding. They appealed to the prime minister and army chief to take notice of the issue and order a probe into the substandard roads in the South Waziristan tribal district.