Murree deaths: KP Assembly’s resolution seeks action against owners of hotels, restaurants

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday through a unanimous resolution asked the federal government to take action against the owners of hotels and restaurants in Murree and other tourist resorts for their exorbitant prices.

The resolution stated that some of the hotels and restaurants were responsible for the gory incident in which at least 22 tourists including women and children died of extreme cold and heavy snowfall when their vehicles were stuck in the snow in Murree.

The resolution moved by MPA Inayatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami asked federal and provincial governments to fix room charges of hotels and rates of food in the restaurants and the food stalls in Murree, Galiyat, Naran, Kaghan, Swat, Kalam and other places to prevent them from fleecing the visitors.

The resolution was passed unanimously. Earlier, the members of the opposition and treasury benches expressed deep sorrow over the incident and extended condolences on the deaths of tourists in Murree.

They asked the government to constitute a judicial commission to ascertain the facts and the causes that led to the gory incident. Nighat Yasmin Orakzai of Pakistan People’s Party said that even a single room of an ordinary hotel in Murree was rented for Rs30,000 per night while an egg was sold for Rs500 on the night when the tourists were stuck and died of extreme cold on the roads.

She said the local people, hoteliers and restaurant owners were equally responsible for the deaths of the tourists. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly through another resolution asked the provincial government to compensate the victims and affectees of the recent rain and heavy snowfall in various parts of the province.

JI’s MPA Sirajuddin in his resolution stated that dozens of houses collapsed in Bajaur district during the recent rains while hundreds of walls and roofs caved in in other parts of the province.

The provincial assembly passed a resolution in support of the Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan, stating that its members were spreading the real message of Islam, peace and brotherhood across the globe. The resolution stated the Tablighi Jamaat had no link to any terrorist organization nor it was spreading terrorism. Through another resolution, the Khyber Pakhtun-khwa Assembly asked the federal government to provide the province its due share in the gas supply.