CM’s advisor directs officials to improve mineral testing lab

PESHAWAR: Dr Syed Sarfaraz Ali Shah, advisor to the Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Minerals and Development and Planning, visited the Mineral Testing Laboratory in Hayatabad and expressed dissatisfaction with the state of affairs there.

During his visit, Zahoor Ahmad, in charge of the laboratory, briefed Dr Syed Sarfaraz Ali Shah on various sections and explained how they worked.Dr Syed Sarfaraz Ali Shah checked out several important parts of the laboratory, like the pilot copper plant, iron plant, chromite plant, and places where they process antimony and gold.

However, he was not happy with how the laboratory building looked. He thought it was in bad shape, not very clean, and some of the machines were not even working. He asked the officials to fix the machines and improve the working of the facility as soon as possible.

He also said they needed to make the testing better and also to modernise the laboratory. He also asked for a report on staff shortage, and said he wanted things to improve before his next visit.

He also thought that the people working in the laboratory needed more training. Dr Syed Sarfaraz Ali Shah checked out other parts of the laboratory, where they tested things like copper, iron, limestone, soapstone, and coal.