PESHAWAR/KARAK: The leaders of different political parties belonging to Karak district here on Tuesday threatened to launch a protest movement if government tried to shift the planned oil refinery to Kohat.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club, PML-N provincial general secretary Rehmat Salam Khattak, former provincial minister Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel and Karak nazim Sharif Khattak said that the government should set up the oil refinery at the proposed site of Krapa area in Karak instead of shifting it to Khushal Ghar area of Kohat.

They said that earlier the oil refinery was planned at Krapa, however, later the PTI-led provincial government changed its venue to Khushal Garh area on the pretext of water scarcity. They said that they would never accept it.

The political leaders claimed that water scarcity was not the real issue rather government was trying to appease the landowners in Khushal Garh where it had also imposed Section-4 of Land Acquisition Act.

They said that the issue of water scarcity was also raised when PTI formed its government in the province. A technical committee headed by Senior Minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao looked into the issue and declared that there was no water scarcity in Krapa and the area was suitable for construction of oil refinery, they added.

They said that the government backtracked from its promise to set up the oil refinery in the area. They blamed chief minister for changing the site of the planned oil refinery.

They said that Khushal Garh was not suitable for the purpose as it was located away from the areas where oil and gas were discovered. They said that a lot of money would be spent on laying pipeline if the oil refinery was set up in Khushal Ghar. There would be also chanced of oil theft, they added.

The political leaders said that previously oil worth Rs20 billion was stolen in connivance with the bureaucrats, police and other officials. They said that people of Karak would never allow anyone to deprive them of their rights.

In a meeting in Karak, Khattak Ittehad, a local rights organisation, also decided to launch a protest movement against the shifting of oil refinery from the district.

The meeting, which was chaired by Khattak Ittehad president Maulana Mirzageem and attended by a large number of people, expressed concerns over the decision of government to shift the oil refinery to Kohat.

The participants of the meeting said that the refinery should be set up in Karak as it was producing 75 per cent of the total oil and gas in Kohat division. They said that the mega project was being shifted from Karak on the pretext that there was shortage of water in the area. They claimed that the required quantity of water could be easily supplied to Krappa from Mansoor Garh.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami district president Maulana Tasleem Iqbal said that his party would play a leading role in the protest against shifting of the oil refinery. He demanded of the elected representatives of the district to raise the issue at National and provincial assemblies.