Some people want to block development again: CM

LAHORE

Federal Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch met Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

The chief minister said that Pakistan Muslim League-N government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had put the country on path to progress and prosperity. He said the PML-N had always promoted politics of values. He said service to people was the motto of the PML-N. He said that no effort would be spared for the development and prosperity of the country. Shahbaz Sharif said that it was unfortunate that some political elements were once again trying to create hurdles in the process of national development.

He said that undue criticism of public welfare projects was opposition to the progress and prosperity of the common man. He said that the people who had earlier rejected the elements opposing welfare-oriented projects would not allow anyone to hamper the process of progress in future as well.

The chief minister said that work was in progress speedily on China Pakistan Economic Corridor project and its completion would change the destiny of the country.

coup failure: Shahbaz Sharif has said that military coup in Turkey was a conspiracy against the progress and prosperity of the masses which the Turk people foiled through their unity and spirit of patriotism.

In a statement on Saturday, the chief minister congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Bin Ali Yildirim, other leaders and Turks on behalf of the people of Pakistan on the failure of the conspiracy against democracy.

He said it was a proof of the fact that Turkish people deeply loved their President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and were committed to democracy.

Shahbaz Sharif said that Turks had practically proved their commitment to the concept of rule of people as well as the fact that Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a public leader. He said that the way Turks saved democracy had proved their unswerving faith in democratic system and the leadership of the Turk President.

The CM said the government and people of Pakistan were with the government and the people of Turkey and supported democracy and democratic government in Turkey.

World Bank: Shahbaz Sharif has said that thousands of megawatts electricity will be added to the national grid with the completion of energy projects by the end of next year

A delegation led Ms Keiko Honda, executive vice-president and chief executive officer of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank group, met the Punjab chief minister on Saturday and expressed willingness to invest in healthcare system and industrial parks in Punjab.

Ms Keiko Honda said that Punjab province under the leadership of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had made splendid achievements in different sectors and the measures taken in health, education, industries and other sectors were commendable. She said that close cooperation would be extended to Punjab government for increasing investment in different sectors.

The chief minister said that economy of Pakistan had strengthened due to effective policies of the government and foreign exchange reserves had reached a record level.

The chief minister said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor project would be completed in the beginning of the next year. 

Referring to the steps taken for coping with energy crisis, Shahbaz Sharif said that besides traditional methods, power generation work was being carried out expeditiously for energy production through alternate sources. He said that thousands of megawatts electricity would be added to the national grid with the completion of energy projects by the end of next year. He said that agriculture, industry and other sectors would develop due to increase in power production and the rate of annual development would increase by two percent. He said that government was also working on power projects with its own resources.

He said that federal and Punjab government were speedily implementing the projects of generation of electricity through gas. He said that completion of gas-based power projects of 3,600 megawatts would result in availability of cheap electricity to the masses. He said that work was continuing round the clock on 1,320 megawatts coal power plant in Sahiwal.

He said that a huge sum of 112 billion rupees had been saved on gas power projects by adopting the highest standard of transparency. He said that load shedding would be overcome to a large extent by the end of next year.

Shahbaz Sharif said that political and military leadership was on the same page for eliminating the menace of terrorism and extremism. He said that brave armed forces of Pakistan had achieved splendid successes in Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

He said that rooting out terrorists was essential for achieving the targets of socio-economic development. 

The chief minister said that Punjab government had introduced a number of reforms for the improvement of education, health and other social sector, and record resources had been provided for this purpose during the current fiscal year. He said that he personally reviewed implementation of reforms programme in education, health and social sectors.

He said that a large portion of Pakistan’s population comprised youths, and provision of vocational training to them for their empowerment was a big challenge. He said the government had evolved a programme to make two million youths skillful during the next two years and technical assistance of World Bank for this programme would be welcomed. He said that metro bus projects were running successfully in Lahore and Islamabad-Rawalpindi while metro bus project in Multan was in final stages of completion. He said that provision of modern transport facilities to the masses was priority of the government. He said that Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project was also being implemented speedily. 

The chief minister said the government had eliminated child labour from brick kilns. He said that a conducive atmosphere for investment had been created in Punjab. He said that private sector had also been provided with favorable conditions for business. He said that hospitals were being upgraded in Punjab for extending modern treatment facilities to the masses.

He said that the first apparel park of the country was being set up near motorway. He said that MIGA should consider setting up a separate institution for financing the sector of industrial development. 

Provincial Ministers Rana Mashhood Ahmad, Zakiya Shahnawaz, Asif Saeed Manais, Adviser Dr Ijaz Nabi, the chief secretary,  Planning & Development chairman and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Senior Vice-President Almas Haider were also present.