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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Directorate Faces Assembly Scrutiny Over Suspended Projects
Musarrat Ullah Jan
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Directorate’s silence on several de-notified projects, including the construction of sports complexes, has finally caught the attention of the Provincial Assembly.
Despite the Directorate’s refusal to disclose information under the Right to Information (RTI) law, the issue has escalated to the Assembly floor, raising concerns among sports enthusiasts that accountability may soon follow.
The Sports Directorate had previously imposed Section 4 for land acquisition in areas like Chuhar Gajjar, Battagram, and Shangla to build sports complexes.
However, during a specific tenure, the projects in Chuhar Gajjar and Shangla were de-notified. Interestingly, the Battagram Sports Complex was allocated over 50 million rupees, and work was set to begin.
Despite court rulings in favor of the Directorate, unseen forces altered the plans behind closed doors, leading to the project’s mysterious de-notification. The beneficiaries of this decision remain unknown, but the financial damage to the Directorate is gradually coming to light.
Officials in the Development Department, working from their air-conditioned offices, continue to claim a lack of funds, even though the Deputy Commissioner had released over 55 million rupees for these projects.
The RTI responses from the Directorate suggest that legal disputes over land led to the de-notification of multiple projects, including Battagram. However, the truth may unfold in upcoming Assembly sessions where this issue is set to be raised.
Speculations about an internal inquiry into the Battagram project are circulating within the Directorate, but the transparency and outcome of such inquiries remain uncertain. Similar to a previous inquiry into a harassment case, which was quietly buried in paperwork, there are fears that this investigation may meet the same fate.
The de-notification of the Chuhar Gajjar and Shangla sports complexes has also raised eyebrows, especially after a fake letter was discovered, claiming that funds earmarked for these projects were returned to the Provincial Sports Complex.
The investigation revealed that the letter did not come from the Finance Department, adding another layer of mystery to the ongoing saga.
Questions remain about the officials who played a role in these dubious decisions, and why no one has dared to ask which official acquired the land and who threatened the department during the acquisition process.
The Directorate, now bearing the brunt of these decisions, has become a symbol of how public welfare projects can fall victim to the interests of the elite, who, despite living off public taxes, seem indifferent to the public good.
The big question remains: Who will hold them accountable? And perhaps, the most troubling answer is that no one will.