Rural roads project to be a game changer: CM

LAHORE
CHIEF Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that Khadim-e-Punjab Rural Roads Programme, which is the biggest project in the history of Pakistan for the construction and rehabilitation of rural roads, is being implemented speedily and a huge amount of Rs150 billion will be spent on this project during next three years under a phased programme.
He said that repair and rehabilitation work of all rural roads would be completed by January 2018. He said this mega project was of vital importance for progress of rural areas and would prove to be a game changer for rural economy.
Addressing a high-level meeting through a video link at Civil Secretariat, Friday, the chief minister said the Punjab government had launched a mega project of repair and rehabilitation of roads of rural areas at a cost of billions of rupees and this project was of vital importance for the promotion of economic and trade activities in the rural areas of the province. He said farmers and the rural people would directly benefit from Khadim-e-Punjab Rural Roads programme which would also provide job opportunities to thousands of people. He said the project would result in better facilities to the farmers, cultivators and the rural people. He said completion of development projects within timeframe as well as maintenance of their quality and transparency was the policy of the Punjab government which would also be implemented in the construction of all roads. He said an effective system had been devised for monitoring of Khadim-e-Punjab Rural Road Programme and monitoring committees had been constituted for this purpose in all districts. He directed that besides monitoring, an effective mechanism be evolved for the maintenance of roads to be constructed under this programme.
British envoy: British High Commissioner to Pakistan Philip Barton called on Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, here on Friday.
Matters of mutual interest, promotion of bilateral relations and increase in cooperation in different sectors were discussed during the meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said Pakistan and Britain had close friendly and trade relations and Britain was an important trade partner of Pakistan. He said that cooperation of Britain in education, health, skill development, law and order and other sectors was laudable. He said Skills Development Programme was being carried out successfully in Punjab with the cooperation of British Department for International Development (DFID). He said School Reforms Roadmap being implemented with the cooperation of DFID was yielding encouraging results while a major programme of public health was also being started with the help of Britain. He said the government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was introducing far-reaching reforms in economic sector and due to solid measures taken by the government, the confidence of foreign investors had restored. He stressed the need for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations and exchange of trade delegations between the two countries. British High Commissioner Philip Barton said that Britain attached high importance to its relations with Pakistan and cooperation with Pakistan in different sectors would be continued.