PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Wednesday said that the government was going all-out to introduce a mechanism of checks and balances through a set of legislations to ensure fair and transparent governance.
\n\u201cThe whistleblower law will bring an end to corruption and corrupt practices and make all governance-related issues transparent in all spheres of public dealings.
\nThe mechanism would also lead to responsiveness for the judicious utilisation of public money,\u201d he said this while presiding over a meeting of the select committee on proposed Whistleblower Act here.
\nThe committee gave final touches to the law, which will now be tabled in the next session of the provincial assembly for enactment.
\nThe meeting was attended by Senior Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan, Minister for Law Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi, MPAs Muhammad Ali Shah, Mehmood Bhittani, Shaukat Yousafzai, Sardar Idrees, Sardar Hussain Babak and Zarin Gul.
\nThe participants had a threadbare discussion on different dimensions of the proposed legislation. They suggested certain amendments to finalise it for presentation in the next session of the assembly.
\nThey discussed the law to make it more effective and reconcile to the ground reality. The participants also discussed the possible misuse of the law by various interest groups and individuals with mala fide intension. They suggested various steps for stopping the misuse.
\nChief Minister Pervez Khattak said that the Whistleblower Act was one of the legislations that would eliminate all sorts of pilferages in public dealings and the misuse of power and authority.
\nHe hoped that the proposed legislation would eliminate commission and other corrupt practices in the public sector institutions leading to institutional strengthening instead of individual as seen in the past.
\nThere will be visible transparency and in case of any malpractices and corruption the government would initiate action. The participants of the meeting agreed to the composition of the commission to be headed by a chairman and members up to the age of 67.
\nIt would be a financially autonomous body with remuneration to be met out of the provincial consolidated fund.The power and authority of the chairman would include the organizational structure and disposal of day-to-day affairs. After preliminary enquiry of the status of complaint, the body would start full enquiry within the stipulated time.
\nThe participants agreed to certain safeguards for the protection of whistleblower against any victimisation and disadvantages position. If the complaint was formed on mala fide intention, the complainant would be punished
\nThe meeting also agreed to allow the victim to claim compensation if the complaint was based on mala fide intention.The chief minister directed the quarters concerned to finalise mechanism for the enforcement of proposed law after enactment from the provincial assembly.
\nHe hoped the record legislations made by his government would bring about openness and transparency in all spheres of public dealings. It would discourage corruption and corrupt practices and the public servant and their representatives would fully focus on the public service.
\nMeanwhile, the Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said on Wednesday that his government was all set to provide cheap electricity to investors in the industrial zones in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
\nAn official handout said that he was presiding over a meeting that was attended by MNAs Asad Umar, Jahangir Tarin and Sajida Khattak, Senators Nauman Wazir and Mohsin Aziz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZMDC), Ghulam Dastagir and Syed Muhammad Mohsin respectively, Secretary Energy and Power Naeem Khan and Secretary Industries Farah Hamid Khan.
\nChief Minister Pervez Khattak said his government would use natural gas for the establishment of three power generation stations at Kohat, Rashkai and Hattar Industrial estate producing 225 megawatt electricity.
\nHe said the electricity would be offered to the industries in the three industrial estates at concessional rates. He assured the businessmen that the provincial government would be a sovereign guarantor to attract and facilitate investors in the province.
\n\u201cOur government has offered incentives to the investors,\u201d he said. He directed the quarters concerned to expedite the fulfilment of procedural requirements so that the dream of rapid industrialisation of the province could be translated into reality.
\nHe added that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was rich in natural resources and his government was providing an enabling environment to foreign and domestic investors to harness these resources for the development of the province.
\nThe meeting thoroughly discussed the preparations made for utilisation of the 100 MMCFD natural gas for power generation approved by the federal government. The participants of the meeting were informed that the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) had issued demand note to the province for the provision of gas supply.
\nThe meeting expressed happiness over the overwhelming response of investors to the biddings offered last month. The participants were informed that investors were ready to avail the opportunity and make investments.
\nWith regard to the rates of electricity produced and sold to industries, it was decided that through NEPRA has to fix the, rates efforts would be made to keep it low. It was also decided that the provincial government would look into the issue to conduct feasibility itself or leave it to the investors.
\nThe communiqu\u00e9 said that t KPEZMDC would take a decision within two days. With regard to the availability of gas, the meeting was informed that in view of the recent discovery and diggings, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would produce more gas than its requirement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Wednesday said that the government was going all-out to introduce a mechanism of checks and balances through a set of legislations to ensure fair and transparent governance. \u201cThe whistleblower law will bring an end to corruption and corrupt practices and make all governance-related issues transparent in all spheres of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n