KHOST CITY (SW): As many as 20 different directorates in Khost province are operating without a proper office leaving public as well as officials in doldrums.
Since there are no permanent offices for these directorates, the affairs related to them are handled from make-shift offices at different locations in different times.
Atif and Bahar, two Khost residents, who were visiting these public offices for some matters, told Salam Watandar their whole day gets wasted running from one place to another. They also raised questions over the renting of private complexes for public offices despite the availability of budget and state land.
The government staff working in these make-shift facilities informed that they have shared their concerns with the higher-ups, and have called for proper offices multiple times, but to no avail.
Among these directorates are the Population Census Directorate and the Directorate of Traffic. Syed Umar Umar, head of the Population Census Directorate, and Ghani Shah, head of the Directorate of Traffic, informed that service delivery to the citizens has been affected by repeated transfers of their offices from one place to another. They lamented that their repeated calls for permanent offices have fallen on deaf ears.
According to the Khost Municipality, some 20 directorates do not have proper offices, but in coming four years, this issue would be resolved.
Sher Badshah Urgoni, interim-governor, acknowledged the issue. He, however, stressed that some directorates are linked with the provincial headquarters of the police, such as the Population Census Directorate and the Directorate of Traffic, while work is underway on developing separate offices for the rest of directorates without a proper office.
ENDS
