KOHAT: MPA Ziaullah Bangash has said that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has approved Rs20 million of the total Rs120 million required for the waste recycling plant awaiting completion since 2015 due to nonpayment of oil and gas royalty of Kohat.

Talking to Dawn here, he said that there was shortage of funds, but he was making efforts to get the royalty of Kohat for the purchase of recycling machinery worth over Rs100 million after which work on the project would be expedited.

He said that completion of the project depended on provision of funds.

Sources said thatlandfor the recycling plant was bought in 2014 without getting the approval under Section 4 from the revenue department that the site was suitable for the purpose for which it was to be used.

The MPA said that the initial grant was released (after taking possession ofthe land without making payment to the owners) in 2015 for starting work on the project in Mohammadzal, but so far only half of the boundary wall had been completed.

Answering a question, he said that work on the project was stopped after the NAB and Ehtesab Commission launched an inquiry on the complaint of then deputy commissioner Tariq Afridi.

Now, he has been exonerated from all allegations that he had bought the site for the plant on cheap rate and then sold it to the government on a high price.

Mr Bangash said that there were four shareholders in the 78 kanals acquired for the recycling plant who would be made payment after release of the whole grant.

Meanwhile, the new sanitation company and tehsil municipal administration are dumping waste in areas near Peshawar bypass and Hangu road due to delay in commissioning of the recycling plant.

The owners of adjoining guava orchards and wheat fields could not use the waste as fertilizer because it contained plastic bags, bottles, etc, while it had been causing nuisance to the nearby residents.

The MPA said that a large piece of land had been reserved for dumping garbage near the Orakzai Agency`s border.