MANSEH R A: Oghi tehsil nazim Raja Bashir has warned the tehsil municipal administration officials against committing corruption and said they would be dealt with strictly if they ignored the warning.

`I will not allow TMA employees, including engineers, to receive bribe from contractors and others and if anyone is found involved in this practice, I will take them to justice under the relevant laws,` he told the council in Oghi here on Tuesday.

Council convener Qazi Zahidullah chaired the meeting.

Mr Bashir said pedestrians couldn`t freely move in bazaars due to encroachments.

He said he wanted strict legal action against those who are occupying footpaths and roads in city and its suburbs.

The nazim said heads of various departments, especially the TMA`s, not attending the council`s session would face action under the Local Government Act, 2013.

Councillors Jamal Alvi and Habib Bassikhel criticised the TMA officials over poor performance.

Mr Bassikhel complained that the TMA didn`t give due importance to the schemes floated by him andother councillors.

Karori councillor Hafiz Younis complained that 32 posts of teachers and other employees had long been lying vacant in the Government Higher Secondary School for Girls in Oghi to the misery of students.

He demanded the immediate filling of the vacancies.

H O S P I T A L ` S RECONSTRUCTION: Mansehra deputy commissioner Ayaz Khan has promised the early removal of hurdles to the reconstruction of the Balakot tehsil hospital running in tents since its destruction in the 2005 earthquake.

`I assure you that the reconstruction on the hospital will begin soon as the provincial government has released Rs250 million for it,` he told an `khuli kutchery` in Oghi on Tuesday.

The deputy commissioner also assured participants of the smooth supply of clean drinking water to Oghi city and its suburbs.

Earlier, the people from different walks of life apprised the deputy commissioner of civic problems.

Councillor Zahir Khan Swati complained that a tussle between communication and works department and contractor had led to the delay in the reconstruction of Balakot tehsil hospital despite the completion of tendering nine months ago.