Shah Thamas Football Stadium: A Sports Facility or a Quiet Distribution of Public Resources?

 

Musarrat Ullah Jan , KikxNow , Digital Creator

Public institutions are built with taxpayers' money. Their land, buildings and facilities are public assets meant to serve society. When these resources gradually become private conveniences for a select few, asking questions becomes a public duty rather than merely a journalistic exercise.

The situation at Shah Thamas Football Stadium in Peshawar raises precisely these questions.

Employees have reportedly been residing in the stadium's official residential quarters for many years. Providing accommodation to staff is not unusual in itself. Many government departments provide housing facilities to employees. The issue begins when the line between an official facility and personal entitlement becomes blurred.

There is reportedly no gas supply in the quarters, so electric heaters are being used for cooking. If there is a transparent and properly regulated mechanism governing electricity consumption, there should be no issue. However, if public resources are being consumed without oversight, an important question arises: who bears the cost and who ensures accountability?

The situation becomes even more interesting when one observes that some of these residents own private vehicles. Owning a car is certainly not a crime, nor is financial stability something to criticize. However, it does challenge the narrative that every public facility is being used solely out of necessity.

Over time, another development appears to have taken place. Some individuals have reportedly constructed shops, while others have begun building additional rooms and extensions. The real issue is not whether construction is taking place. The real issue is whether such construction has been formally approved.

Was permission granted by the competent authority? Were building plans approved? Were the rules governing government property followed? If the answers to these questions are positive, then the relevant records should be made public. If they are not, then the silence itself becomes a matter of public concern.

According to the Sports Directorate, the stadium and its affairs fall under the administrative jurisdiction of the Regional Sports Officer. Therefore, questions regarding oversight, permissions and accountability naturally arise at that level.

The story, however, does not end with construction and residential quarters.

Government offices operate under defined working hours, generally from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. These timings exist to ensure public service, discipline and accountability. Yet in practice, many public institutions appear to function under an entirely different arrangement.

Several days of the week are already consumed by weekends and holidays. Then there are reports that some officials arrive late on Mondays because they travel from distant locations and leave early on Thursdays for the same reason.

The question is not whether travel causes inconvenience. The question is whether government institutions should operate according to personal convenience or according to established rules and responsibilities.

 

This reflects a larger and more troubling problem.

People rightly complain about unemployment and the lack of opportunities. Thousands of young people seek government jobs, prepare for examinations and wait for years in the hope of securing stable employment. Yet, once employment is obtained, punctuality, institutional discipline and accountability sometimes become secondary concerns.

This mindset gradually weakens public institutions.

The issue at Shah Thamas Football Stadium is not merely about a few residential quarters, electric heaters or additional rooms. The real issue is whether public resources are being monitored properly. Are rules applied equally to everyone? Can alterations on government property be carried out without proper authorization? Are official working hours merely a formality on paper?

If the answer to these questions is yes, then this is not simply the story of one stadium. It is a reflection of deeper administrative weaknesses.

If the answer is no, then the authorities have a responsibility to place the facts before the public, clarify the applicable rules and demonstrate that public land, public resources and public time are indeed public trusts and not private possessions.

Institutions are strengthened by accountability, not by silence. When questions are no longer asked, walls become higher, rooms become larger, privileges become wider and accountability becomes smaller.

May our institutions remember that public resources belong to the people and that stewardship of those resources is a responsibility, not a privilege.

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