KP cabinet rejects proposal for new luxury vehicles for DDAC

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) cabinet has turned down a proposal by the Local Government Department to purchase new luxury vehicles worth Rs480 million for chairpersons of District Development Advisory Committees (DDACs), despite the chief minister’s prior approval, sources told Hum News English.

Rather the cabinet has directed the department to repair and continue using the existing vehicles currently assigned to the chairpersons.

According to sources, during the last cabinet meeting, the KP Secretary for Local Government presented a summary requesting the procurement of 26 new 4×4 luxury vehicles, one for each DDAC chairpersons, at a cost of PKR18.5 million per vehicle.

BYD Shark 6 — Pakistan’s first luxury pickup, now available for bookings

The summary noted that the current vehicles, bought in 2014 for official use by DDAC chairpersons, had exceeded their service life and had clocked over 315,000 kilometres. It also proposed new vehicles for newly created districts including Lower South Waziristan and Lower Dir, citing that the previous DDAC chairperson’s vehicle in South Waziristan was destroyed in a militant attack.

The cabinet was informed that in the first phase, vehicles would be purchased for 13 districts: Buner, Lower Chitral, D.I. Khan, Lower Dir, Hangu, Haripur, Kurram, Lakki Marwat, Mardan, Mansehra, Peshawar, Lower South Waziristan, and Swat.

Budget 2025-26: Luxury tax, agri levies under review to meet IMF targets

Although the summary stated that the chief minister had already approved the procurement, the cabinet, after discussion, declined to endorse the purchase. It instructed that current vehicles be repaired and made serviceable, while some additional vehicles may be arranged through the Excise Department.

Senior officials from the KP Local Government Department confirmed to Hum News English that the cabinet had withheld approval for new vehicles. “In light of cabinet directions, we will now provide some vehicles via the Excise Department and repair existing ones for use by the chairmen,” an official said.