Khattak blasts policies of PML-N govt

Says Centre prefers construction of roads over health, education sectors;

inaugurates institute of applied sciences in Haripur

HARIPUR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Saturday criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for preferring road projects to health and education sectors.

He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Pak-Austria Fachhochschule: Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology University of Haripur.

Provincial Minister for Education Atif Khan, Advisor to Chief Minister Mushtaq Ghani and local notables were present on the occasion.

Pervez Khattak was on a daylong visit to Haripur, where he inaugurated the new campus building of University of Haripur and attended the ground-breaking ceremony of 25 kilometer Haripur bypass road being built at the cost of Rs.3,712 million.

The chief minister was also invited as a chief guest to attend the oath-taking ceremony of newly-elected members of District Bar Association Haripur.

Speaking on the occasion, Pervez Khattak claimed that reforms had been introduced in health and education sectors to stamp out injustice and corruption from the society.

He said that nothing was more important than health and education. He said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government had prioritised the education and health sectors.  He added that University of Engineering and Technology Haripur would be the second in the country where internationally recognised degrees would be awarded to the students.

He added that the estimated cost of the project was Rs9.3 billion.  He congratulated the people of Haripur, saying that the mega project would be a fate-changer for the province.

Pervez Khattak said that every industrial estate in the province would get a technical centre to cope with the shortage of technical staff. “Around 700 to 800 people will be trained and employed after completing training,” he said.

The chief minister said the government had given several incentives to the industrial sector. He said that installing an industrial unit would now be a one window operation.

He added the provincial government would bear five percent interest out of 7.5 percent on loans for the investors who establish a factory in these industrial estates.

University of Haripur Vice-Chancellor Nasser Ali Khan termed the project as future of the region. He said that the engineering university project would be completed within 18 months.

Around Rs1.5 billion would be received from the provincial government annually for completing the project, he maintained.