District Ziarat Voters’ Interviews

Mujeebullah Kakar
36, a health practitioner in Taran village, said local bodies’ elections are very crucial for the resolution of people problems at grass roots levels. The local bodies’ representatives knew well the problems of people as they also lived among them. He said his village is lacking educational facilities for girls. There is no girls’ school in the area. He wanted to vote for the educated and non-corrupt candidates ensuring the provision of education facility for girls in the village.

He said the provision of clean drinking water is a major demand of the people in the locality. The underground water table is very deep and tube wells at people homes and agricultural fields have been dried. He wanted the government to build small dams and store rain water to bring up the underground water table.

Abdul Sattar
35, village Kawas, said he would vote the same candidate who was elected in the last LG elections. He said the candidate - Hazrat Ali - has resolved many of the problems of the area. Ali is easily accessible and he takes keen interests in resolving problems of the people. Sattar said the former nazim usually stayed with the people and helped everybody irrespective of being known to him or not.

Gul Bashara
35, a teacher, said we need to use our votes judiciously. Local government is the best form of government where problems of the people are solved at village  level easily. She said the representatives of local governments are easily accessible to everyone including the women who can also take their problems to them for solution. She would vote those candidates who understand problems of the community.

Changez Khan
28, a social worker, said the local government system introduced by former dictator Gen Musharraf was the best one. The incumbent government is replacing this system with local government system of 1969. He said the people must vote in the local bodies’ election so that true representatives are elected to district level governments. He said he had decided to vote on merit after weighing all the candidates in his union council.

Asad Khan
25, a social worker from village Verchoom, said unemployment is the major problem of his village. About 90% of the youth is unemployed. Agriculture is the main profession of the area, however, due to sever power load shedding almost all the agriculture tube wells are closed. The situation has turned the farmers unemployed and poverty is increasing.

Asad pointed out that health facilities are non-existent in the area. People suffering from different diseases, especially those facing health emergencies, are forced to visit hospitals and doctors’ clinics at a distance more than ten kilometers. He said teachers’ absenteeism is also a problem endangering the future of new generation. He said he wanted the local government elections be held on party bases so that people answerable to their party’s leadership and have development programs are elected to LGs.