PESHAWAR: Speakers at a jirga here on Sunday highlighted the problems faced by the residents of provincial metropolis and asked the government end misuse of funds.
The representatives of different organisations attended the jirga titled Peshawar Qaumi Jirga. Khalid Ayub, Nasir Ali Syed, Khalid Baloch, Syed Mukarram Shah, Shahab Khattak and Advocate Samina addressed the jirga.
The speakers said that corruption had destroyed all government departments and funds meant for hos-pitals, educational institutions, roads and other civic facilities were embezzled.
They said that work on repair of Ring Road had been initiated two years ago but it was not completed so far.
The road, they said, was used by trailers carrying goods for Nato forces in Afghanistan and the ultimate sufferers were the people of Peshawar.
Similarly, the speakers said, the rest of roads were also in bad condition but the successive governments never paid serious attention to those.
The basic reason was that the chief ministers of the successive governments belonged to other districts and they never bothered to give due share in funds to Peshawar as they focused only on their constituencies, they added.
The speakers asked the government to take effective steps for improvement of the traffic system in Peshawar as there was no check on encroachment and the people were facing serious problems in movement.
They also mentioned the problems created due to shortage of water, poor sewerage system, decaying public parks, outdated public transport, unemployment, deteriorating law and order situation and increasing environmental issues.
“The condition of hospitals in Peshawar is also very pathetic and needs immediate attention of the government. It is duty of the government to allocate sufficient funds for the healthcare centres stop corruption,” said Khalid Ayub.
He said that Peshawar was a historical city and known allover the world but the historical sites were also decaying fast owing to negligence of the departments concerned.
“If half of the budget of Peshawar Development Authority is given to Peshawar Qaumi Jirga it will ensure beautification of the city and reconstruction of the roads,” he said.
Mr Ayub said that Peshawar Qaumi Jirga had representation of maximum civil society organisations and it sole aim was to raise voice for rights of Peshawarites.
He said that the jirga was ready to assist the government in case it needed support in planning for improvement of civic facilities.