Fog continues to disrupt flight schedule, irks passengers in KP

Barkatullah Marwat
PESHAWAR: The thick fog that have enveloped most parts of the country including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have disrupted flight schedule at the Bacha Khan International Airport, Peshawar.
 
The cancellation of international flights due to the foggy weather has created problems for the general passengers, including those working in the Gulf countries as they have been stranded in the provincial capital over the last three days.

Talking to The News, a group of passengers complained that they should have been informed about the delays. One of the passengers, Nek Wali hailing from Miranshah in North Waziristan complained he came to the airport on Monday, but the flight was cancelled due to thick fog. “My visa is going to expire today (Wednesday) if I don’t catch the flight,” he said.

Another passenger, Mohammad Shah, said he was scheduled to leave for Dubai, but couldn’t do so due to cancellation of the flight. “The management of the company I work for will be angry at me. They don’t accept excuses and want us to arrival on time after availing the leave,” he said.

Sharing his difficulties, Akbar Ali belonging to Shangla said, “I spent three days in a hotel due to the cancellation of my flight. “I would have spent the three days at home if I knew of the problem,” he maintained.

Usman Ali, resident of Chitral district, said, “The relevant authorities were supposed to inform the passengers about the flight schedule.” Abdur Rehman, who wanted to take a flight to a Gulf country, believed the officials of the various franchises sitting in the airport were dodging the passengers.

‘Accused’ doctor appointed DHQ Lakk imedical superintendent

Barkatullah Marwat

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has appointed a doctor as the medical superintendent in the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Lakki Marwat district although he was held ‘guilty’ by an inquiry committee in a case regarding illegal cutting of trees.


The official documents with ‘The News’ revealed that Dr Mashal Khan had ordered cutting the trees in the Police and Civil Hospital in Serai Naurang tehsil in 2011 when he was posted there as senior medical officer.

The trees at the government institutions have always been the property of the forest department. However, the sources said that Dr Mashal had ordered the peons of the hospital to cut the trees without bringing it into the notice of the forest department officials.

The sources said that a nominal amount of Rs320 was deposited by Dr Mashal in the government exchequer while no account was given of the money earned through the sale of the timber.

Following the incident, the then executive district officer (EDO) Dr Muhammad Iqbal constituted a three-member committee comprising Dr Muhammad Bashir as chairman and Dr Muhammad Ishaq and Dr Muhammad Altaf as members to hold investigation into the allegations levelled against Dr Mashal Khan for illegally cutting the trees.

The inquiry committee submitted its report in which Dr Mashal Khan was held responsible for misusing his authority and recommended ‘major penalty’ for him.

The then EDO forwarded the inquiry report to the provincial director general health in Peshawar, but nothing came out of it.

The Health Department first appointed Dr Mashal Khan, who is in grade 18, as the agency surgeon for the Frontier Region (FR) Lakki Marwat and later as the medical superintendent in the District Headquarters Hospital replacing Dr Muhammad Ishaq who is in grade-19. The sources said another inquiry had also been ordered against the MS in connection with the previous enquiry.

They said that Dr Akbar Jan and Dr Khan Malook had been appointed as inquiry officers against Dr Mashal Khan, but interestingly both are subordinate to the medical superintendent. “It is somewhat awesome to conduct inquiry against your boss or head of the institution and I don’t think the inquiry would be fair and transparent,” a doctor, wishing anonymity, told The News.

Former MS Dr Muhammad Ishaq was transferred and posted as the in-charge of the Rural Health Centre, Tajori.

When contacted, Dr Mashal Khan said the previous inquiry was one-sided and was not transparent. He said he was ready to face the consequences of the second inquiry to be conducted by his subordinate doctors.

Interestingly, he had given a statement in writing to the enquiry committee that the remaining amount had been spent on manufacturing furniture for the hospital.

However, EDO Abdul Ghaffar Wazir said the enquiry had been conducted against Dr Mashal Khan and forwarded to the director general of Health Department but no result had come out.

He also said another enquiry had been ordered by the Health Department against Dr Mashal.