CM says KP turned into lab for new experiments

TIMERGARA: Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi said on Saturday that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been turned into a laboratory where new experiments were being carried out.

“When we talk about maintaining peace through negotiations, we are linked to someone else,” he said, adding that terrorism had been imposed on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which had not only badly affected the already weak economy of the war-torn province but also harmed the country’s economy.

Addressing a public gathering at the Timergara Rest House ground, Sohail Afridi came down hard on the institutions. He said that guests disappeared as soon as the jirga ended in the provincial assembly.

The chief minister said that neither the captain (Imran Khan) had ever bowed down to hardships and threats, nor would he do so.

He added that despite court orders, he was not being allowed to meet his leader in jail.

Without naming anyone, Sohail Afridi said that “your bullets will exhaust, but our chests will not end.”

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial President and Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Junaid Akbar Khan, MNA Mehboob Shah, Shahid Khattak, Malik Liaquat Ali, Malik Shafiullah Khan and others also addressed the gathering.

Earlier, addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 40.8-megawatt Koto Hydropower Project in Lower Dir district as chief guest, the chief minister said several important energy projects in the province were facing delays due to the non-issuance of no-objection certificates by the federal government and a complicated approval mechanism.

The ceremony was attended by sitting and former PTI members of the national and provincial assemblies from Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Bajaur districts, administrative officers, Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) officials and party workers.

Secretary Power and Energy Muhammad Zubair Khan, while briefing the chief minister on the project, said it was expected to generate an annual profit of Rs2.4 billion.

He said that apart from the Koto Hydropower Project, the Karora and Jabori Power Projects would also be inaugurated soon.

Sohail Afridi said that KP had huge potential to generate cheap electricity and it was the vision of PTI founder Imran Khan to provide inexpensive electricity to the people.

Talking about energy-related issues, he said his government had decided to install its own 120-kilometre transmission line in

the province, which

would directly benefit consumers.

Although lawmakers from Lower Dir district handed over a letter on proposed development projects in Dir, the chief minister did not make any announcements.

Later, lawmakers from Dir told journalists that Sohail Afridi had noted down all the important projects, which he would discuss with them later.