Muhammad Irshadullah
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) has declined to share key operational and financial information related to the tourism police, despite formal requests filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
A citizen had submitted an application on May 9, followed by a reminder on May 24, seeking details regarding the fuel consumption and deployment of tourism police motorcycles, personnel data and budget utilization. However, no response was received from the authority.
The applicant has now filed a formal complaint with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission, which has been registered.
According to the RTI request, the information sought included the total volume of fuel consumed by the department\’s motorcycles over the past 12 months, monthly fuel usage records, budget allocations versus actual expenditures and the number of deployed personnel in Peshawar, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Swat, Chitral and Upper Dir.
Additionally, the applicant requested the names, designations and daily responsibilities of personnel posted in Peshawar as well as the current location of six motorcycles stationed at the Peshawar head office and records of their official use over the past year, including copies of the logbooks.
The refusal to share the data has raised concerns among transparency advocates, who believe the authority’s silence could point to potential financial irregularities, misuse of public resources, or administrative lapses.
Legal experts and RTI campaigners have stressed that public institutions are bound by law to provide access to information concerning the use of taxpayer money. Failure to do so not only violates the RTI Act but also undermines public trust in government institutions.
Efforts to reach KPCTA officials for comment remained unsuccessful.