National dialogue be held for creation of new provinces: PM

SHUJABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday that said a national dialogue must be held to evolve consensus for new province but it should not be used as mere election slogan.

Addressing a public gathering here after inaugurating Multan-Shujabad section of Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5), the prime minister said many other countries had also created new provinces.

He was accompanied by Governor Punjab Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana and Minister for Water Resources Javed Ali Shah.

The prime minister earlier unveiled the plaque of the project what he said had been completed a year ahead of schedule.

The Sukkur-Multan Motorway is part of Karachi-Lahore Motorway Project and is being constructed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that would cost Rs 294 billion.

Work on the motorway was started in 2016 and is scheduled to complete by 2019. It is a 6-lane access controlled facility, taking off from Sukkur and terminating at Multan, after passing through several major cities including Ghotki, Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiqabad and Bahawalpur.

The prime minister told the gathering that those who had now been calling for South Punjab province were part of Pervez Musharraf’s government when new province could have been created within no time.

He said such people were just cheating the people and challenged them to prove their performance during their respective tenures with that of the PML-N government in all sectors.

He said the whole political elite should join heads on the issue of new provinces and other national issues as the politics of blackmailing and impersonation would not work anymore.

He said the present government had delivered even beyond its commitments and besides it own projects, it had also accomplished the half-complete projects of previous government that had been lingering for decades.

He said the previous governments too had same resources but failed to deliver.

During the last five years, the government had executed record projects, comparing with the last 65 years.

It had added around 10,400MW to national grid, comparing with 20,000 MW generated since creation of Pakistan.