KOHAT: The business community, residents of the city and the posh KDA Township have appealed to the deputy commissioner to direct Water Supply and Sanitation Company (WSSC) officials to repair the dozens of dysfunctional filtration plants.

President Miankhel Ladies Bazaar Tariq Shafi Durrani said a water filtration plant in Sanger area had been out of order for last six months. He also complained that manholes in the bazaar were without covers, posing threat to pedestrians, especially children.The traders of the Old Bus Stand Bazaar complained that the WSSC had installed a plant several years ago, but it was lying dysfunctional for want of maintenance.

WSSC deputy general manager Tahir Afif told Dawn on contact that drug addicts often stole the taps and pipes of the filtration plants, rendering them dysfunctional. He said when the plants were installed around eight years ago no budget was kept for hiring watchmen for their safety.

He, however, said budget had been approved and faults in all the 17 filtration plant s would be fixe d within a week.

WORKSHOP: Lady health workers were provided training on the Right to Information (RTI) and Right to Services (RTS) laws during a daylong awareness session held at the Liaquat Memorial Hospital on Sunday.

Trainer Inamullah Khattak told the participants that RTI and RTS facilities were internationally recognised because they brought transparency to the government departments and improved the confidence of people in them. `Mainpurpose of these laws was to benefit the common man,` he said, stressing that under the laws it was the prime responsibility of the government officials to 1(eep all records safe and accessible to the public.

Faizan Khan, a representative of the RTI Commission, said the officials must ensure that the public issues were settled within the stipulated time. He said if officials failed to resolve people`s prob-lems then the aggrieved persons could approach the R T I Commission.

He said p e o p 1 e brought their problems to the notice of the RTI and RTS officials, w h o a d dre s s e d them diligently.